The RS-18 missile was fired at 8:35 am (0435 GMT). It later successfully struck a target on the Kura military base on Russia's far eastern Kamchatka peninsula, some 5,000 kilometers (3,000 miles) to the northeast, authorities said.

"This test proves the reliability of our rocket division," a Russian strategic forces official told ITAR-TASS.

With a payload of 4.5 tonnes, the RS-18 (classified as SS-19 by NATO) is considered the second most powerful missile in the Russian arsenal behind the Satan multiple warhead rocket, now outlawed by disarmament agreements.

There are 140 RS-18 missiles in the Russian arsenal, while some 90 have been successfully tested since first coming into operation in 1975.

While Russia regularly tests its ballistic missiles, the latest launch comes in the heat of a tense debate with Washington over US plans to scrap the 1972 ABM treaty in order to start building a new missile defense shield.

Russia and China are both lobbying furiously against the US proposal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently threatened to scrap other disarmament agreements, loading Russian rockets with multiple missile warheads in order to counter the US shield.

However senior Russian defense officials this week toned down the rhetoric, noting Moscow was not intent on sparking a new arms race and willing to continue negotiations over the ABM treaty.

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Nuke Sub Missiles Notch Up Three More Successful Tests
Sunnyvale - June 26, 2001
Three U.S. Navy Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems--Missiles & Space Operations, were successfully launched in a test operation conducted yesterday evening from the USS Louisiana (SSBN 743) at the Eastern Test Range off the eastern Florida coast.