Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces tested a RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile on September 26. The missile was launched from Kapustin Yar to the Sary-Shagan test site.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense [3], the launch was designed "to test an advanced combat payload" which is designed to “overcome missile defenses.” The data gathered from the experiment will be used to develop future Russian ballistic missiles technology to counter missile defenses.
It is unclear what kind of system the Russians were testing.
“It’s some type of new warhead, but no new details available,” Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics told The National Interest.
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“They have a stated goal to overcome any missile defenses which can be possibly created in the foreseeable future.”
Pavel Podvig, director of the Russian Nuclear Forces Project, told The National Interest that there is not enough data to say for sure what the Russians are up to, but he does not believe that they are testing a maneuvering reentry vehicle (MaRV).
https://scout.com/military/warrior/Article/Everything-We-Know-About-Russias-Mysterious-ICBM-Tests-108220189
