RS-24 Yars

The RS-24 Yars also known as RT-24 Yars (Russian: PC-24 «Ярс», NATO reporting name: SS-27 Mod 2) is a Russian MIRV-equipped, thermonuclear weapon intercontinental ballistic missile first tested on May 29, 2007, after a secret military R&D project, to replace the older R-36 and UR-100N that have been in use for nearly 50 years. RS-24 is a missile that is heavier than the current Topol-M, and which some reports say can carry up to 10 independently targetable warheads. The 2007 tests were publicized as a response to the missile shield that the United States were planning to deploy in Europe. RS-24 has been deployed operationally since 2010.

Testing

Asserted by the Russian government as being designed to defeat present and potential anti-missile systems, the ICBM was first tested by a launch from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia at 11:20 GMT, May 29, 2007, and its test warheads landed on target about 5,750 km (3,573 mi) away at the Kura Test Range in Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula.