Russia performed a test fire of its newest Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) this week and officials say it was a complete success. Capable of carrying multiple independent warheads, it's also able - according to government officials - to penetrate any defense system in the world.
An intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a long-range (greater than 5,500 km or 3,500 miles) ballistic missile typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery, that is, delivering
one or more nuclear warheads. Due to their great range and firepower, in an all-out nuclear war, submarine and land-based ICBMs would carry most of the destructive force, with nuclear-armed bombers the remainder.
It seems the Russians are once again proving that they're still a superpower, and that a roar of the big bear in the east can really scare anyone trying to get too close to its hibernation cave.
The new missile was designed to modernize Russia's arsenal and it's no coincidence that the test took place at a time when tensions with the West - NATO and EU - are rising.
The ICBM was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch site in northwestern Russia and its test warhead landed on target about 3,400 miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, which makes the space between Russia's most eastern point and the US shores look like a walk in the park for new nuclear missile.
Russia's president, Vladimir Putin said that his country would continuously improve its nuclear arsenal in response to US plans to install a missile defense system in eastern Europe. The First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov announced with great pride the fact that this new ICBM can easily penetrate any missile defense system.
"As of today, Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems," ITAR-Tass quoted Ivanov as saying. "So in terms of defense and security, Russian can look calmly to the country's future."
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