Weapons

New Cold War? Russia Developing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles To Pierce US Missile Shield

In a return to rhetoric reminiscent of the Cold War, Russia announced Tuesday it is working to develop new intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of piercing the U.S. missile shield.

“This is conditioned by the fact that the United States is not stopping after what it has achieved and continues improving its missile defense system, including the deployment of its elements in Europe,” Sergey Karakayev, commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Force, told the Kremlin-backed news agency Tass. “That is why special attention in the development of new missile complexes is paid to the issue of overcoming the missile shield.”

Karakayev said Russia was working on missile acceleration, new types of warheads and making flight paths more difficult to predict. Without providing an exact number, he said the Russian military would have an equal number of stationary and mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers by 2021. The Yars missile system is expected to make up half of the country’s strategic missile forces. While no new test sites are expected for intercontinental ballistic missiles, Karakayev said new mobile facilities were a possibility.