Russia Carried Out Successful Anti-Satellite Missile Test In December - US Media Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2019) Russia successfully carried out the seventh test of its new PL-19 Nudol anti-satellite missile system on December 23, the US media said in a report.

The anti-satellite missile flew for 17 minutes and 1,864 miles before successfully splashing down in its target area, CNBC said in the report on Friday.

The news network cited two anonymous sources with, it said, direct knowledge of a classified US intelligence report.

The report appeared the day after President Donald Trump unveiled a 108-page Department of Defense 2019 Missile Defense Review that pledged a dramatic expansion of US anti-ballistic missile weapons systems. It cited claimed advances in missile technology by Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

The Russian anti-satellite weapon is expected to target communication and imagery satellites in low Earth orbit, one of the two anonymous sources said in the report.