Russia tests prototype missile

Russia successfully tested a prototype new weapon that can penetrate any prospective missile defences during this week’s military exercise, a senior general said today.

Colonel General Yuri Baluyevsky, the first deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, said that the prototype of a new hypersonic vehicle had proved its ability to manoeuvre in orbit – a quality he said would allow a weapon based on such a craft to dodge an enemy’s missile shield.