Russian military extends lifetime of its most powerful missiles

The Russian missile forces chief said that the military had decided to keep its heaviest intercontinental ballistic missiles in service for another decade, a news agency reported Saturday.

Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said that a decision to extend the service lifetime of the RS-20V missiles, also known as SS-18 Satan in the West, would allow the Strategic Missile Forces "to keep the world's most powerful missiles for another 10 years," the Interfax news agency reported.

Solovtsov said that the RS-20V missiles' original 15-year service lifetime would be extended to 25 years.

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