Russia tests new missile

MOSCOW, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Russian authorities say they have successfully tested a new strategic missile capable of penetrating the strongest defensive systems.

Thursday's test launch of an RS-12M Topol missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome hit a target on the Kamchatka Peninsula, RIA Novosti reported.

The intercontinental-style missile covered more than 3,700 miles and is capable of hitting a target up to 6,125 miles away with a 550-kiloton nuclear warhead. But the Russians said they were most pleased with its accuracy.

"An experimental warhead hit a target at a testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula with high precision, demonstrating its capability to deliver pinpoint strikes on well-defended targets," Col. Alexander Vovk, spokesman for Strategic Missile Forces said in the RIA Novosti report.

Russia has been attempting to upgrade its ballistic missiles in response to United States plans to build a missile-defense shield near Russia's Central European neighbors, the report said.