US Fires INF-Busting Missile, First Test Since Treaty Signed (goes to Breaking Defense)

The test puts the nail in the coffin of the INF Treaty, which the US withdrew from earlier this month.

WASHINGTON: The US took its first post-INF shot just 17 days after the America pulled out of the arms control treaty, launching a Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile from a California island.

The missile flew more than 500 kilometers, according to a defense official, marking the first time since 1987 that the US has demonstrated the capability to launch a ground-based cruise missile between 500 and 5,000 kilometers — ranges previously banned by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia. With the treaty’s Aug. 2 demise, the cruise missile launch is now fair game. The missile launched from San Nicolas island in Southern California, flew 500 kilometers and struck back near where It launched.

The fact that the Navy/SCO test was able to hit a land target, as opposed to falling in the sea, shows at least some work had been done previously on the Tomahawk variant in order to get it in the air just 16 days after the US pulled out of the 32 year-old INF treaty.

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