The United States has launched its first ground based cruise missile since withdrawing from a three decade old arms treaty with Russia, and the test took place in the Channel Islands. Department of Defense officials say they launched a cruise missile from a mobile launcher on San Nicholas Island Sunday afternoon.
They say the missile successfully flew to and hit a target 500 kilometers away. Officials say the launch was important to provide information on the development of intermediate range missiles.
Some arms experts say this could be the latest round in what could be a new arms race between the U.S. and Russia.
In1987, the U.S. and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. It banned land based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5500 kilometers, and led to the dismantling of more than 2600 missiles.
But, President Trump accused Russia of non-compliance of the INF Treaty. He also said China’s growing missile is a concern, and said the U.S. would withdraw from the agreement. Russia accused the U.S. of violating agreement. After the U.S. said it would withdraw from the treaty, Russia said it would do the same thing.
