Pentagon tests long-banned ballistic missile over Pacific

13/12/2019 17:53

        The Pentagon flight-tested a missile that had been banned under a treaty that the United States and Russia abandoned last summer. Some U.S. arms control advocates said the test risks an unnecessary arms race with Moscow.
        
        The prototype missile was configured to be armed with a non-nuclear warhead. The Pentagon declined to disclose specifics beyond saying the missile was launched from a "static launch stand" at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and landed in the open ocean. According to the U.S. Defense Department,the ballistic missile flew more than 500 miles.
        
        The test comes amid growing uncertainty about the future of arms control. The last remaining treaty limitation on U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons — the New START treaty of 2010 — is scheduled to expire in February 2021. That treaty can be extended for as long as five years without requiring a renegotiation of its main terms. The Trump administration has indicated little interest in doing so.