MOSCOW — Russia announced Wednesday that it had tested a short-range interceptor missile for the Moscow antiballistic missile system in what appeared to be a symbolic warning to the United States not to go ahead with a national missile defense system now under consideration.
Col. Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, commander of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, told Interfax news agency that the Tuesday launch at the Sary Shagan testing ground in Kazakhstan was the first of its kind since 1993.
Russia has been warning in recent weeks that, if the United States goes ahead with a national missile defense system, then Russia will take countermeasures, and Wednesday's announcement seemed to be a bit of muscle flexing.
Russian officials recently have publicized a list of actions they might take in response to a U.S. decision to deploy a missile defense system.
Some of the measures, if undertaken, would reverse commitments made in arms control treaties in recent years, such as outlawing multiple-warhead missiles. But it is not known whether cash-strapped Russia can afford to carry out its threats.
The test missile was not identified but is among those installed in the Moscow antiballistic missile system of radars and missiles, built around the capital in the Soviet era. The 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty allowed two such systems and a subsequent protocol limited it to one.
The Moscow antiballistic missile system, known as A-135, includes the full complement of 100 interceptor missiles permitted by the treaty.
The system has a dual defense against ballistic missiles, according to Air Force Magazine.
If the radars spot incoming missiles, Russia could launch up to 36 longer-range SH-11 Gorgon missiles.
Should any missiles penetrate this layer, the system also has 64 short-range SH-08 Gazelle missiles, which are quick-reaction, high-acceleration interceptors.
Yakovlev said that the tests confirmed the combat readiness of the missile and that the Strategic Rocket Forces would extend its service life to 12 1/2 years, which suggests that the test involved missiles that have been deployed for some time.
Originally, the interceptors around Moscow were armed with low-yield nuclear warheads. The missiles were not intended to hit the incoming missiles but rather explode near them. However, news reports in the last year have said that Russia removed the nuclear warheads from the interceptors around the capital.
