Russia's missile hint to Bush

Putin has talked of putting multiple warheads on older missiles

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia test-fired a 1970s ballistic missile on Wednesday, hinting at a possible nuclear build-up to counter U.S. defence plans.

The Russian military announced it had test-fired a huge Stiletto missile from its space base at Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

Missile tests are mounted routinely in Russia, but Wednesday's came a week after President Vladimir Putin threatened a nuclear expansion if President George W. Bush's plans for a missile defence shield, NMD, went ahead.

Putin repeated at the weekend his threat to put multiple warheads on existing missiles to counter U.S. moves to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. He said the U.S. would not be able to counter multiple warheads for decades.

IN-DEPTH Missile defense: Europe's view   •  U.S., Europe tension   •  Plan sparks Europe fears   •  Q&A: Missile defense   •  Text of ABM treaty   •  How system would work   •  Missile defence in action

The Stiletto, or SS-19, was built between the mid-1970s and 80s, and can carry six warheads, each with a force of one to two megatons.

At one stage Russia deployed 360 of the 80ft giants, and the Stilettos were regarded as the backbone of Russia's nuclear arsenal.

But under the START II treaty Moscow can keep only 105 -- and each must be downgraded to just one warhead.

Putin said last week that START II -- signed by President Bush's father in 1993 -- would be automatically void if Washington pulled out of the ABM treaty to build NMD.

As well as the Stiletto Russia also has the even older SS-18 Satan missile, which can carry 10 to 12 warheads. The Satans were to be scrapped altogether under START II.

Russia's most modern strategic missile, the Topol-M, could also be refitted to take more than one warhead but only carries one tonne of payload.

Itar-Tass news agency said a military source had told it Russia's older, larger missiles would be "the only way of resolving strategic tasks in contemporary conditions."

"Compared to the Topol-M, the Stiletto has a considerably higher chance of overcoming the ABM system of the likely enemy," due to its larger payload, it quoted the source as saying.

Putin told reporters after a meeting with Austrian President Thomas Klestil on Saturday that world stability had been preserved "thanks to the balance of powers and interests" in the nuclear sphere.

This means that all countries, including Russia, will have the right to install multiple warheads carrying nuclear weapons on their missiles," he said.

For Russia, he said, installing multiple nuclear warheads on existing missiles "is the cheapest response."

American officials have said the aim of a missile defence system would be to protect against possible attacks by unpredictable nations such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq, not former U.S. Cold War foe Russia.