BAIKONUR, Kazakhtan - Russian specialists plan to test launch an RS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) (UR-100N UTTKh, Stiletto by Western classification) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, a Yuzhny Space Center spokesman told Interfax.
"The main task of the launch is to test intercontinental ballistic missiles’ new combat equipment capable of overpowering existing and future missile defense shields," he said.
The test launch has been prepared by specialists from enterprises of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), including the Mechanical Engineering Research and Production Association, based in Reutov in the Moscow region, where the RS-18 missile was developed, he said.
This new combat equipment for ICBMs was successfully tested for the first time in 2010, a high-ranking representative of the Russian General Staff told Interfax-AVN.
"The most important thing today is to adapt it for existing missiles and missile systems. This issue is relevant to us today, bearing in mind U.S. plans to deploy a strategic missile defense shield in Europe," he said.
