Russia Tests New Missile

A spokesman for Russia's Strategic Missile Forces said the military has test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

Col. Alexander Vovk says the RS-24 missile lifted off from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch pad in northern Russia.

He said the missile's multiple warheads successfully hit the designated targets at the Kura testing range in the far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday.

It was the third test launch of the new missile, which is intended to gradually replace the aging Soviet-built intercontinental ballistic missiles that still form the core of Russia's nuclear arsenal.

Russian military officials have boasted that the RS-24 would be able to penetrate any prospective missile defense.