Russian military conducts test-launch RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile

A file photo of Russia’s Topol ICBM ground-based mobile launcher

The Russian military has announced the successful test launch of its RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a Tuesday statement that the launch had been conducted in the Kapustin Yar range in the country’s southern Astrakhan region, adding that the missile successfully struck its intended target at a range in Kazakhstan.

It said the objective of the ICBM launch had been to test the advanced combat gear of the missile, adding that the data gleaned from the experiment would be utilized toward the development of “prospective means of breaching enemy missile defenses” for use in Russian ballistic missiles.

Russia’s Strategic Missile Force tested its state-of-the-art Yars intercontinental ballistic missile last week. Yars is a modern variant of the Topol-M missile series, with a solid propellant missile carrying a multiple warhead payload and designed to replace the dated liquid-propellant UR-100N missiles — better known under their NATO designation as SS-19 Stiletto.

A test launch of the Russian RS-28 Sarmat super-heavy thermonuclear missile — designated as SS-X-30 Satan 2 by the US-led NATO military alliance — could be held next month, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS.

Two weeks ago, the Russian military also conducted another test launch of the Yars missile, which is capable of striking various targets up to 12,000 kilometers away.