MOSCOW. May 10 (Interfax-AVN) - The tests of missiles have been booming at the Kapustin Yar interagency proving ground in the Astrakhan region in the past five years, Colonel Alexander Vovk, head of the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) press service, told Interfax-Military News Agency Wednesday.
"For the past five years we have registered a stable tendency of missile tests intensifying at the range. For instance, the year 2004 saw 173 test programs, while in 2005 the number was 205. As for 2006, we have 221 tests in plans," Vovk said.
According to him, 22 test programs are now under way at the proving ground.
He also said that several warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles in service with the SMF and Navy have been successfully tested at the proving ground in the past few years. For instance, the first phase of the official trials of the Iskander-M missile system for the Land Forces, as well as the tests of the S-400 air defense system, have been completed
Kapustin Yar will mark its 60th anniversary on Saturday. The proving ground contains a research and development center of the Strategic Missile Forces, the interagency air defense research and development center, the Land Forces' weapons development center, the instrumentation, data-exchange and mathematical processing center, and the missile defense test center. The jubilee festivities at the proving ground on Friday through to Sunday will see the participation of SMF Commander Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov.