Russia loads new intercontinental ballistic missile into silo south of Moscow
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The 23m long RS-24 (Yars) missile is designed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW – Russian rocket forces have loaded a new Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo at the Kozelsk base in the Kaluga region, south-west of Moscow, the defence ministry said.
The 23m-long RS-24 (Yars) missile is designed to carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs), which allow the missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads at different targets.
"In the Kozelsky compound, Strategic Missile Forces loaded a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher," the defence ministry said.
The defence ministry released a clip of the giant missile being transported to a silo and loaded into a shaft. It accompanied the video with pounding rock music.
Russia has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, closely followed by the United States. Together, Russia and the US control more than 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons.
Russia has 5,889 nuclear warheads, while the US has 5,244, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Of those, Russia and the US each have about 1,670 strategic nuclear warheads deployed. REUTERS
