Not that there were any serious doubts, but it was still good to get an official confirmation - the RS-24 missile, tested in May, is a MIRVed Topol-M. Yuri Solomonov, the General Designer of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, confirmed that in his interview to the VPK newspaper. It is still not entirely clear how this will be compatible with the START Treaty.
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I don't understand the point of mirving the Topol-M. One MARV warhead is still more survivable than three standard MIRV's.
I agree completely. The point is to make the force look bigger, if only artificially.
Solomonov:
"...quantity of warheads more than that figure which was called in a press" :-)
What was that number, by the way? Three? or six?
And what about this?!
"La Russie précise ses menaces de nouveaux missiles intercontinentaux
MOSCOU, 6 sept 2007 (AFP) - La Russie a annoncé jeudi qu'elle était prête à installer d'ici à trois ans ses nouveaux missiles intercontinentaux Iskander, précisant ses menaces de réplique au bouclier antimissile américain. [...]
As far as I can tell, there is nothing new here.
> What was that number, by the way? Three? or six?
- From six to ten, according to some reports.
I thought RS-24 is a missile carrying multilple MARV warheads not the standard warheads. If it carries the standard ballistic warheads it would be no different from earlier generation and therefore not worth much. Can anyone clarify?