AFP, MOSCOW: Russia next week will test-launch another mobile Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile, perhaps the last one before putting it into use, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Monday.
The 47-tonne missile, which carries one nuclear warhead, is seen by Russia as a future backbone to its nuclear defenses. It compares to the US-built Minuteman-3.
Yury Solomonov, who heads the Moscow Institute of Technology that constructed the missile, said its mobile version could become operational by 2006, ITAR-TASS reported.
Russia already has ground-based Topol-M rockets on standby.
The last test of the mobile missile was accomplished last week, with it traveling its maximum distance of 11,500 kilometers (6,900 miles) before hitting a target on the Kamchatka peninsula.
“The test was successful,” the Russian defense minister said in televised comments, reporting the mission's progress to President Vladimir Putin.
“We have one more test, after which point we can reach a decision on utilizing this weapon,” Ivanov said.
Russia and the United States signed the “Moscow Treaty” in May 2002 that obliged both countries to slash their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds over the next 10 years.
But Washington has since issued strong hints that it may use a loophole to abandon the treaty, and Russia has staged a series of test launches of ICBMs in recent months.
