December 5, 2003 :: Newsday :: News
Russia today test-launched its third long-range ballistic missile since September. An SS-19 (Russian desgnation RS-18) was launched from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. An important component of Russia’s strategic arsenal, the SS-19 “Stiletto” has two main modifications, with a payload of up to 4,350 kg and a range of 10,000 km.
News commentators on the launch have been emphasizing the missile’s possible use as a satellite launch vehicle, or SLV. This particular missile was apparently a Strela (“Arrow”) modification, Russian spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Igor Zatula said, used to “launch a dummy satellite” into low orbit. But one should hesitiate to assign merely “commerical” motives to such tests: to say, as Reuters does for example, that the purpose is for “providing satellites for phone networks and television broadcasters in countries it once targeted.”
The military aspect of this launch, to maintain Russia’s ability to target countries with its nuclear weapons, is perhaps the more important point to understand. As Zatula also noted, Russia’s defense ministry used this particular launch to verify the missiles were fit for combat duty. According to the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass, the test is part of a project to extend the SS-19’s service life to 25 years. The service life of the SS-19 was previously estimated at 21 years, the limit of which many are now approaching. Russia continues an active testing program for a variety of its ballistic missiles; most recently with an SLBM test launch.
What is not mentioned in the brief reports by Reuters and others is the relation of this test to the roughly 150 SS-19s recently acquired from the Ukraine in July. The purpose of these missiles was not merely to be used for launching satellites—a reference to SLV capacity is a common means to distract attention from missiles’ military value. In October, Putin ordered the transfer of the 150 SS-19s to combat duty to replace aging SS-18s: at the time, he commented: “I am speaking here about the most menacing missiles, of which we have dozens, with hundreds of warheads.”
(Article)» July 28, 2003: Ukraine sells 150 more ICBMs to Russia
» October 3, 2003: Putin Orders SS-19 Buildup
» October 15, 2003: Russia Tests Another SLBM
» More stories on: Russia, Technology, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: SS-21 A, SS-21 B
