Russia test-fires RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile.

Russia has successfully test-fired an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk Region in the country’s north, the Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (Picture source: Vitaly Kuzmin)

"At 11:31 a.m. Moscow time on February 6, a mobile Yars solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile armed with multiple warheads was test-fired from the Plesetsk state testing spaceport. The warheads arrived at the designated area at the Kura practice range on the Kamchatka Peninsula [in the Russian Far East]. The assignments were accomplished in full," the Defense Ministry said. "The launch aimed to confirm the advanced missile system’s capabilities and flight characteristics," the ministry stressed.

The 15U175M RS-24 Yars (modification of the Topol-M) is a Russian strategic missile system comprising a mobile or silo-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile with MIRVed (multiple independent reentry vehicle) warheads. The ICBM was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the supervision of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Solomonov. The Yars is a modification of the Topol-M missile system.