Russia Successfully Test-Fires Iskander Ballistic Missile In Far East

The Russian military successfully test-fired a new Iskander-M ballistic missile during an exercise in the Jewish Autonomous Region in the Far East, Aleksandr Gordeyev, the spokesman for the country’s Eastern Military District, said Friday.

“The launch was carried out from a training site in the Jewish Autonomous area. The missile hit a target at a proving ground in the Amur region 300 kilometers (over 186 miles) away,” Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Gordeyev as saying.

The Iskander-M, with the NATO reporting name SS-26 Stone, is a mobile ballistic missile system designed to destroy ground targets at a range of up to 310 miles. As part of the latest drill, the missile reportedly hit several military infrastructure facilities of an imaginary enemy, including a command post.

The Iskander, which replaced the Soviet Scud missile, can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, Reuters reported.

The Russian army, which adopted the Iskander-M missile system in 2006, currently operates about 20 of these missile systems. The missile reportedly flies in an alterable trajectory with rapid acceleration, allowing it to overcome enemy's missile defense systems. The time Iskander-M takes to launch ranges from 4 minutes to 16 minutes.