By Tom Miles
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia has developed ballistic missile technology that can outwit any defensive system, a top Russian general said on Thursday, in a clear challenge to the United States' planned $50 billion anti-missile shield.
The declaration came a day after President Vladimir Putin, eyeing nationalist votes for elections next month, promised to equip his armed forces with a new generation of long-range weapons matching those of the United States.
First Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel-General Yury Baluyevsky said that during large-scale military exercises on Wednesday, Russia had test-launched a missile system that could maneuver in mid-flight, allowing it to dodge defenses.
"The test carried out yesterday confirmed that we can build weapons which will render any anti-missile system defenseless against an attack by Russia's strategic forces," he told a news conference.
"It's part of our unilateral response to the creation or future creation of a missile defense system by any state or bloc of states," he said.
Moscow and Washington agreed not to develop large-scale missile defenses in the Cold War, but President Bush pulled out of the treaty in 2002, saying the United States had to ward off threats from terrorists and "rogue states."
Washington appeared unperturbed by the Russian missile test.
"I don't think it has any impact on U.S.-Russian relations. They've got to design a missile force that they think is sufficient for deterrence, just like we do," Air Force General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Washington.
MISSILE SETBACKS
Baluyevsky said Russia was not opposed to missile shields and reiterated remarks by President Putin, who said on Wednesday that Russia was not too worried about the U.S. plan and cooperation between the two countries was good.
Russia's maneuvers have not gone entirely smoothly over the last week.
A Russian ballistic missile self-destructed after a failed test launch from a submarine in the Arctic north on Wednesday. On Tuesday, two ballistic missiles failed to take off in a test on another nuclear submarine.
The U.S. defensive shield remains in its early stages.
The initial system, being built by Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Orbital Sciences, is designed only to protect against a limited attack.
Critics of the U.S. effort, budgeted at $50 billion over the next five years, worry it could trigger an international arms race to overwhelm anti-missile defenses. They also say it faces an impossible task, likened to "hitting a bullet with a bullet."
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said last month the system being built would be able to defend all 50 states against a limited ballistic missile attack by the end of 2004.
