Russia Conducts Second Test Of Nuclear Missile Capable Of Reaching US This Year

The intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test site.

The Russian military conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Kapustin Yar test site, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

“The combat crew of the strategic missile forces carried out a successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile of a mobile ground-based missile system. The purpose of the launch is to test advanced combat equipment for intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the statement says.

They added that the training missile hit a conditional target at the Sary-Shagan training ground in Kazakhstan. The military department did not specify the missile model.

On March 1, a combat training launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile of the Yars mobile complex was carried out. As the Ministry of Defense noted, the purpose of the exercises, the first in 2024, was to “confirm the tactical, technical and flight characteristics” of the Yars, and during their preparation, the military of the Yoshkar-Ola missile formation worked out the procedure for redeploying the launch battery of the mobile complex.

At the end of last year, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergei Karakaev stated that the Russian military intended to conduct seven launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in 2024.

According to the estimates by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), at the beginning of 2023, Russia had 171 Yars launchers in service. These complexes, with a range of more than 11 thousand kilometers, accounted for more than half of all ground-based strategic delivery vehicles (321) and about a quarter of all nuclear warheads (684 out of 2,673).

Last year, the Ministry of Defense tested Yars twice: in December there were exercises, during which the complexes carried out a 100-kilometer march, and in October Yars missiles were launched as part of a general training of strategic forces, which was led by Putin.

On February 29, during his address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian president said that Russia’s nuclear weapons were in a state of “full readiness” for guaranteed use, and threatened with “the destruction of civilization” if Western troops were sent to Ukraine. “We remember the fate of those who once sent their contingents to the territory of our country. But now the consequences for possible interventionists will be much more tragic. They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory,” Putin said.