Kommersant: Russia Crosses Warheads

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Russia Crosses Warheads
// Bulava and Topol-M strategic missiles being hybridized
On Saturday evening, the strategic missile forces launched a K65M-R missile from 4th State Central Joint Testing Ground in Kapustin Yar, Astrakhan Region. That missile was the first to be fired with a prototype of an experimental nosepiece that will be installed in strategic ballistic missiles after testing. The new missiles are intended to defeat the antimissile warning system developed by the United States.
The launch from near the Sary-Shagan 10th Antimissile Defense Test Ground (which is near Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan) is the continuation of test begun last year of new military technology called a post-boost platform, on which up to six nuclear warheads can be mounted. The unified platform is intended for Bulava sea-based as well as Topol-M land-based strategic missiles. Development of the technology was carried out at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the leadership of Yury Solomonov.

According to the strategic missile forces' press service the purpose of Saturday's launch was to test the unified warhead block and a number of new elements intended to overcome antimissile defenses. Those tests were evaluated based on reading taken at radar stations at Kapustin Yar and Sary-Shagan. On November 1 of last year, a decommissioned Topol missile with the new platform was launched at Kapustin Yar from a mobile launcher. Further tests of that type will not take place in the immediate future, however, because only one Topol missile is allotted per year for testing purposes. That is why a K65M-R was used this weekend. It is a model that was developed in the 1970s. It was launched from Kapustin Yar on a suborbital trajectory into Sary-Shagan. More than 300 launches of that type have been carried out.

The Defense Ministry announced yesterday that the launch had been a success. The Russian military confirms that the new platform will allow the missiles to defeat even antimissile defenses that are still under development. Strategic missile forces commander Gen. Col. Nikolay Solovtsov commented that “the large-scale articulated antimissile defense planned by the U.S. is so significant that concern over its negative influence on the parameters of the Russia's potential nuclear deterrence are fully justified. It can upset strategic stability.” That, he said, is why this asymmetric responsive measure is being made.
by Ivan Safronov