- Russia's military commanders say they
have carried out a successful test launch of a new long-range missile,
which correspondents say will become the backbone of the country's nuclear
arsenal for the 21st century.
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- Military commanders said the introduction
of the new Topol-M missile is crucial to enabling Russia to maintain its
military capability as it goes ahead with internationally agreed cuts in
its strategic missile forces.
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- The sixth test launch of a Topol-M -
known to NATO as the SS27 - proved it was a "strategic missile which
has no parallels in the world," Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces
said in a statement.
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- General Vladimir Yakovlev, the head of
the missile forces, said with all test firings at the Plesetsk cosmodrome
in northwest Russia now complete, the first Topol-M missiles will be installed
later this year.
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- Combat ready
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- According to the ITAR-tass news agency,
the first 10 Topol-M missile systems will be put on combat duty this year
at a base approximately 600 km southwest of Moscow.
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- "The task, set by the Commander-in-Chief
(President Yeltsin) and Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev, to design and introduce
the Topol-M complex, has been successfully accomplished," General
Yakovlev said.
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- Unlike Russia's older inter-continental
missiles, the Topol-M is a relatively small and mobile weapon designed
to be fired either from a silo or from trucks and other vehicles, making
it difficult for potential enemies to locate and track.
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- As a single warhead missile it is unaffected
by the Start-II treaty which severely limits multiple warhead missiles.
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- Russia's parliament has yet to ratify
it.
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