Moscow - Russia on Wednesday test-fired its new RS-24 intercontinental multiple-warhead ballistic missile designed to counter air-missile defence systems like the planned US shield in eastern Europe, the military said.

The RS-24 was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia's northern region of Arkhangelsk at 16:20 local time (1320 GMT), a spokesman for the military' Strategic Missile Forces told news agency Interfax.

"It's the third launch of the RS-24 missile in the last two years. The previous launches in May and December 2007 were successful," the spokesman Alexander Vovk was quoted as saying.

The new missile, to go into service in 2009, has a range of 11,000 kilometers aimed at overcoming air-missile threats.

But Western military experts have expressed themselves unimpressed by the launches, saying the missiles are outdated. (dpa)