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US Tests 1st Ground Missile Previously Banned in Dissolved Arms Treaty with
Russia

Carla Babb

   PENTAGON - The Pentagon says the U.S. military has tested a
   ground-based cruise missile with a range that would have been banned
   just three weeks ago.

   The missile, launched Sunday at San Nicolas Island, California,
   "accurately impacted its target after more than 500 kilometers of
   flight," the Pentagon announced in a news release Monday.

   "Data collected and lessons learned from this test will inform the
   Department of Defense's development of future intermediate-range
   capabilities," it added.

   The United States previously was unable to pursue ground-based missiles
   with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers because of the
   Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a decades-old arms
   control pact with Russia.

   Washington withdrew from that pact on Aug. 2, citing years of Russian
   violations.

   The Pentagon stressed that the cruise missile was configured to carry a
   conventional payload, not a nuclear weapon.

   New [1]Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said that if the U.S.
   military develops a fully operational mobile ground-launched cruise
   missile system, he wants to see American ground-based
   intermediate-range conventional missiles deployed to Asia.

   Speaking to reporters earlier this month on his first international
   trip as head of the Defense Department, Esper said the weapons were
   important due to the "the great distances" covered in the Indo-Pacific
   region.

References

   1. https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/us-defense-secretary-wants-inf-range-missiles-asia

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