“The (MBR) RT-2PM2 ,Topol-M', a silo-based intercontinental ballistic missile, was launched on November 1, at 9:20 a.m. [local time, or 6:20 GMT] from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,” the Ministry said in a statement.
The launch was carried out to test Topol-M's technical features. According to the statement, the missile demonstrated its high precision capabilities and overall good performance, hitting a designated target at a test range on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula.
The Defense Ministry previously said that Topol-M and RS-24 ballistic missiles would be the mainstays of the ground-based component of Russia's nuclear triad and would account for no less than 80 percent of the SMF's arsenal by 2016.
The Topol-M is a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-propellant, silo-based or road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile. Its length is 22.7 m and the first stage has a body diameter of 1.9 m. The mass at launch is 47,200 kg, including the 1200 kilogram payload.
Topol-M carries a single warhead with an 800 kt yield but the design is compatible with MIRV warheads. According to chief designer Yury Solomonov, the missile can carry four to six warheads along with decoys. Its minimum range is estimated to be 2,000 km and the maximum range 10,500 km.
Topol-M has three solid rocket stages with inertial, autonomous flight control utilizing an onboard GLONASS receiver.[9][10] It is reputed to have the highest accuracy of any Russian ICBM with a CEP of 200m. The body of the rocket is made by winding carbon fiber.
Topol-M is designed and produced exclusively by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, and built at the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant.
Source: RIA Novosti; Wikipedia
