C. Todd Lopez
The Russians launched Thursday a new kind of missile at Ukraine, what the Defense Department is calling an “intermediate-range ballistic missile,” or IRBM, said the deputy Pentagon press secretary.
“I can confirm that Russia did launch an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile,” said Sabrina Singh during a briefing today at the Pentagon. “This IRBM was based on Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile model. In terms of notifications to the United States, the United States was prenotified, briefly, before the launch, through nuclear risk reduction channels.”
The IRBM missile was launched at the city of Dnipro. While Singh said the missile carried a conventional warhead, she also said it’s possible the missile could be fitted with other warheads as well.
“It could be refitted to certainly carry different types of … conventional or nuclear warheads,” she said.
The Defense Department has characterized the IRBM as “experimental” in that it’s the first time a weapon of its kind has been used on the battlefield in Ukraine, Singh said.
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