Russia Successfully Test-Fires Ballistic Missile

29 November 2005 -- The Russian military today successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile as part of regular efforts to monitor the performance of its aging missiles.

The military said the Topol missile was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia, and hit a designated target at a military testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East.

A military spokesman said the launch was intended to monitor the missile's performance after its service life was extended to 20 years.

(AP/newsru.com)