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Russia test-launches missile
From correspondents in Moscow
August 11, 2004
RUSSIA successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a test firing today, the Strategic Missile Forces said in a statement.
The RS-18 missile blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and hit a set target in the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East, about 6700 kilometres east of Moscow.
The missile, also known as the SS-19, was launched to determine whether its service life could be extended. It has been in service for 27 years.
The launch was the fifth this year by the Strategic Missile Forces and a total of 10 launches have been scheduled for 2004, the Interfax news agency reported.
Earlier this year, Russian military forces suffered two embarrassing failures of ballistic missile launches from submarines during highly publicised naval maneuvers.
Later in February, Russia said it had successfully tested a space vehicle that could lead to weapons capable of penetrating missile defences. Details remain sketchy, but military analysts believe the device is a maneuverable ballistic missile warhead.