Article Posted on : - Dec 25, 2009

‘RS 20 V’ Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile. A file photo

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia has successfully test launched its ‘RS 20 V’ Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile from the country' Far East end, Russian news agencies said.

"Pre-launch operations, the launch and flight went strictly according to plan," a spokesman for Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel Vadim Konval, was quoted by Interfax as saying.

"The test hit the intended target area on the Kamchatka peninsula with astounding accuracy," he said.

At 1200 IST the missile was launched from Orenburg in the south Urals to hit the target which was 9,940 miles away, the spokesman said.

“The test firing aimed to check the missile's flight and technical characteristics to extend the service life of the Voevoda-type systems up to 23 years,” Itar-Tass quoted the spokesperson as saying.

The RS-20V missile with a height of 112ft has a max range of 11,000 kilometers and has the ability to carry 10 nuclear warheads.