ISLAMABAD – The US Defense Department has tested a medium-range ballisticmissile, the second test in four months of an offensive missile that wouldhave been banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)that Washington exited in August.
The Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday that the test took placeearlier in the day from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Los Angeles,California, and the missile flew for more than 310 miles (500 km).
The test was the second of a ground-launched, nuclear-capable missile sinceWashington exited the INF treaty. In August, the Pentagon tested aground-launched cruise missile.
The United States formally withdrew from the landmark 1987 INF pact withRussia in August after claiming that Moscow was violating the treaty, anaccusation that Russia has denied.
The treaty, negotiated by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev, banned land-based missiles with a range of between 310and 3,400 miles (500 to 5,500 km).
Moscow denies flouting the accord and has accused Washington of breakingthe pact.
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The dispute is escalating the worst US-Russia friction since the Cold Warended in 1991.[image: Russia warns against another arms race as US tested new missile]linkSome experts believe the treaty’s collapse could undermine other armscontrol agreements and lead to the proliferation of nuclear weapons.link
The missile tests are part of a new momentum President Donald Trump’sadministration has given to the US policy of “strategic rivalry” with Chinaand Russia, two countries seen increasingly as a threat by Washington.
In September, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said abandoning the INFtreaty would free up the US military to deal with Russia and China.
