MOSCOW, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An anti-missile shield, or America's ambition to establish one in Europe, has become the event of the year in security and strategic terms. The most discussed subject in Russia has been an adequate but asymmetrical response.

To counter several interceptor missiles and a radar station in Europe, Russia has repeatedly said it will build up its strategic offensive capability.

Now it is deploying a new intercontinental ballistic missile RS-24 with multiple individually targetable warheads. "The RS-24 will boost the Strategic Missile Force's ability to penetrate the missile defense system," Colonel Alexander Vovk, head of the Force's information service, said in mid-December.

There is nothing surprising about the asymmetry: Russia responds with what it has. But one wonders about the cost and wisdom of such a reply.

To begin with, the RS-24 is a converted Topol, only with a new nosecone. Remarks by Russian officials that the RS-24 was built around Topol elements are indirect, but there is substantial evidence in favor of that theory.