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9 photos of Russian troops setting up and test firing the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile
9 photos of Russian troops setting up and test firing the Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile
Daniel BrownMay 2, 2018, 02:37 IST
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Russian Defense Ministry
Russia's Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile will be unmatched until at least 2025, Russian state-owned media TASS reported in March.
"According to designers, foreign states will be able to create its counterpart no earlier than in 2025," Russian Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief Col. Gen. Oleg Salyukov said.
Salyukov's statement came just a few days after Russian troops successfully test fired the Iskander-M at the Kapustin Yar testing grounds in southern Russia.
The missile hit its target about 62 miles away, according to RT, another Russian state-owned media outlet.
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"Everything is fine. The missile has found its target," the commanding officer said.
Here's what the test fire looked like and what the ballistic missile can do:
It has a single warhead payload that can be equipped with high explosives, submunitions, fuel-air explosives, high explosive penetrators, or nuclear warheads.
High explosive penetrators are for hitting bunkers.
Since it's a short-range ballistic missile, it launches into a ballistic arc at an altitude of about 163,000 feet before the warhead separates from the missile and then flies down on its target at hypersonic speeds.
The Iskander is "an extremely flexible battlefield system," according to CSIS, and has been deployed to Kaliningrad, where it can reach Poland, Sweden, and the Baltics.
However, it's not invincible to the US' Patriot PAC-3 missiles, according to Popular Mechanics.
You can read more about the Patriot system here >>
Russia has sold the Iskander to Armenia, Algeria and possibly Iran and Syria, CSIS reported. Russia also deployed the Iskander to its Latakia base in Syria in early January 2017.
Watch the Iskander-M in action at the Kapustin Yar testing grounds below:
