Russia has announced the successful test firing of a new anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense system at the Sary-Shagan training ground in Kazakhstan, which they say “is designed to protect against air and space attacks.”
Russia tests a new missile designed to take down incoming ballistic missiles, in a video released by the country's defence ministry. Test of the ABM system carried out in Kazakhstan and said to have hit a mock target with "specified accuracy". pic.twitter.com/5X1HP8y1fr
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Major General Sergei Grabchuk, Commander of the Anti-Missile Defense Unit of the Russian Aerospace Forces, said that “after a series of tests, the new missile defense system confirmed the inherent characteristics, and the combat crews successfully completed the task, hitting the conditional target with the specified accuracy,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
No other details of this missile were provided by Russia’s military.
One could safely assume that this latest launch is part of ongoing testing of Russia’s A-235 anti-ballistic missile system, which was used to destroy the soviet satellite “Kosmos 1408” last year. This may also be the S-500 Prometheus ABM system, however, these are already in service.
