Russia successfully test-launches RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile

A Russian Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile drives through Red Square during the Victory Day parade in Moscow, on May 9, 2010. (AFP)

Russia has announced it has successfully test-fired the RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

According to a statement released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday, the three-stage missile was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 kilometers (498 miles) north of Moscow, “during the final stage of the command-and-staff training of the Strategic Missile Troops (RVSN).”

The “experimental warhead” of the long-range missile, it added, hit the simulated target at the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East “with high precision.”

"The main aim of the launch is to confirm the basic flight and technical characteristics of the Topol intercontinental ballistic missile and test an advanced combat outfit and means of overcoming missile defense systems," the statement further said.

According to the ministry, the results obtained from the launch would be used in “raising the efficiency of an advanced group of Russian ballistic missiles.”

The single-warhead ballistic missile is 22.7 meters (74.5 feet) long, with a mass of 47,200 kilograms (104058 Ib) at launch, and capable of reaching a maximum range of 10,000 kilometers (6,125 miles).