Putin unveils 'new super missile'

Mr Putin said the new missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads, adding that he had briefed French President Jacques Chirac on the system.

However, he refused to say whether the Russian military had already commissioned the new missiles.

The Russian leader was speaking at his annual press conference in Moscow to international journalists.

"Russia last year tested missile systems that no-one in the world has and won't have for a long time," he said, quoted by Russian news agencies.

"These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defense system, but they are immune to that. They are hypersonic and capable of changing their flight path."

Mr Putin said Mr Chirac had been shown the working principles of the missile system during a visit to a Russian military facility in 2004.

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