Russia’s New Missile to Target US Missile Shield

Successful Test of New Missile Designed to 'Overcome' NATO Shield

Just days after NATO announced that its missile defense shield in Europe is provisionally operational, the Russian military has successfully tested a new ICBM that it says is designed to penetrate the system.

The test took place in Kamchatka, on the Pacific Coast, and the Russian Defense Ministry says that it will add to Russia’s offensive arsenal, an attempt to balance the its capabilities after the system’s installation, which is almost exclusively along the NATO-Russia frontier.

NATO has insisted that the shield is aimed at Iran, not Russia, despite having installed the system along Russia’s border and mostly out of range of even Iran’s best missiles. The installation has been a regular topic of discussion between the US and Russia, and despite Russian objections NATO has installed it anyhow.

The missile defense system isn’t likely to work very well at any rate, according to most reports, and Russia’s massive number of missiles basically makes it a non-factor. The system isn’t expected to be fully operational until 2018 at the earliest.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.