US Tests Ground Missile Once Banned in Former Arms Treaty with Russia

 

Russia is criticizing the United States for testing a ground-based missile that was banned until three weeks ago.

"The United States has…taken the course of escalating¹ military tensions," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. He spoke² to the Russian state-operated news agency TASS.

Ryabkov added that Russia would not take part in a "costly³ arms race."

His comments came a day after the U.S. Department of Defense⁴ announced the test. It said the missile was launched Sunday at San Nicolas Island, in California.

The missile "accurately⁵ (hit) its target after more than 500 kilometers of flight," a statement.

The information “collected and lessons learned from this test will inform the Department of Defense's development of future intermediate-range (missiles)," it said.

The Pentagon added that the missile was not carrying a nuclear weapon.

Until recently, the United States was barred from testing ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers because of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The treaty was signed in 1987 by then U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet⁶ Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev.

The United States withdrew from the agreement on August 2. It accused Russia of treaty violations⁷, which Russia has denied.

U.S. officials had said for several months that they planned to carry out the test in August. Officials reportedly plan to test an intermediate-range ballistic missile in November.

Mark Esper is the new U.S. Secretary of Defense. He has talked about the possibility of the military having a fully⁸ operational mobile ground-launched cruise missile system. Esper said that if the military develops such a system, he wants to see American ground-based intermediate-range non-nuclear missiles deployed⁹ to Asia.

The Defense Secretary said the weapons were important because of the "the great distances" in the Indo-Pacific region.

"It's about time that we were…allowed to pursue our own interests, and our NATO allies share that view as well," he added.

The defense secretary was speaking to reporters earlier this month. Esper would not say when or where in Asia the missiles would be deployed, but did say he hoped the deployments would come within months.

Military experts have mostly considered what the INF treaty withdrawal¹⁰ means for Russia and the United States. The change also enables the U.S. military to strengthen its position against China. Esper said more than 80 percent of China's missiles are thought to be intermediate range.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

course – n. the action of moving in a path

escalate¹¹ – v. to increase

lesson – n. something learned by studying or from experience

intermediate – adj. halfway¹² or in the middle

range – n. the space or distance between possible extremes

ballistic missile – n. a weapon that is sent over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explodes

region – n. an area

pursue – v. to follow or continue

view – n. an opinion

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

10 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

12 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。