MIRVs were developed during the Cold War to allow the delivery of multiple nuclear warheads in a single launch, CNN reports
The “experimental” Russian ballistic missile fired at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro carried multiple warheads and may be the first time such a weapon has been used in war, according to a CNN report citing two US and one Western official.
What we know about this missile:
Known as a Multiple Independently-Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV), it carries an array of warheads that can each target a specific location, allowing a single missile to carry out a larger attack. MIRVs were developed during the Cold War to allow the delivery of multiple nuclear warheads in a single launch. The Minuteman III, which is the US intercontinental ballistic missile, is armed with MIRVs. The missile fired at Dnipro was not armed with nuclear warheads.
On Thursday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said this was the first use of the experimental medium-range ballistic missile modeled after Russia’s RS-26 Rubezh missile, but did not specify the specific type of missile or its capabilities.
Tom Caraco, director of the Missile Defense Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said this is likely the first time a MIRV has been used in combat.
In the past, MIRVS were “exclusively for nuclear warheads,” he added.
The use of this type of missile armed with conventional warheads is an escalation of Russia’s nuclear threats, he stressed.
Source :Skai
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