Fourth time in two years that Russia has carried out a missile launch

Russia’s latest flight of a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile this month appears to be another circumvention of a 1987 nuclear missile accord, U.S. officials and private arms specialists said.

A test of what the Pentagon calls the SS-25 road-mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) took place Oct. 10 and traveled less than 2,000 miles, indicating it could be a missile banned by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

Russia’s military also failed to notify an international group set up in 2002 to prevent missile proliferation called the Hague Code of Conduct about the test.

The flight test two weeks ago was the fourth time in the past two years that Russia has carried out a missile launch that appears to violate or undermine the INF treaty, which bans nuclear missiles with ranges of between 500 kilometers and 5,500 kilometers.

The latest test prompted one U.S. official to question the administration’s continued pursuit of arms agreements with Moscow.

“Why do they continue to pursue talks when Russia is violating treaties,” the official said.

The comment reflects what officials said is growing concern from within the U.S. intelligence community over the failure of administration policymakers to take steps to address the treaty breaches.

Officials are uncertain why Russia appears to be violating the INF agreement. One theory is that it is a response to U.S. missile defenses planned for Europe. Russian officials have said they plan to target U.S. missile defense in Europe for attack, fearing they will be used against offensive Russian missiles targeted on the United States. To do so, the Russian military would need medium-range nuclear missiles.

Mark Schneider, an arms control specialist, said the recent SS-25 test does not appear to violate the INF treaty but raises questions about the use of long-range missiles in a theater missile configuration.

“An ICBM can be tested to INF range after its first test to ICBM range but that is unusual,” he said.

Russia announced that the purpose of the SS-25 test was to develop a new “combat payload.”

Credit to Washington Free Beacon