U.S. looks to test ground-launched cruise missile in August

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-russia-military/u-s-looks-to-test-ground-launched-cruise-missile-in-august-idUSKCN1QU2WT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of about 1,000 km (620 miles) in August, a Pentagon official said on Wednesday, after Washington announced last month it plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

Last month, the United States said it would withdraw from the INF treaty in six months unless Moscow ends what Washington says are violations of the 1987 pact.

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The official said the United States was also looking to test an intermediate-range ballistic missile in November, adding that both would be conventional and not nuclear.

The INF treaty, negotiated by then-President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ratified by the U.S. Senate, eliminated the medium-range missile arsenals of the world’s two biggest nuclear powers and reduced their ability to launch a nuclear strike at short notice.

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