President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new type of nuclear missile system that no other nuclear powers possess, the Interfax News Agency reported.  

At a meeting of high-ranking officers, Putin reportedly said: "We are conducting research and testing the most up-to-date nuclear missile systems, which, I'm sure, will be supplied to the armed forces in the near future."

"These systems will have no analogues in other nuclear powers during the next few years," Interfax quoted Putin as saying.

While Putin did not disclose the type of nuclear weapon being developed, news reports have speculated that Russia is working on a next-generation heavy nuclear missile capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads weighing 4.4 ton. The current generation Topol-M missiles are limited to a 1.3-ton combat payload.

Topol-Ms, which the Russia military have been equipped with since 1998, have a range of about 10,000 km.

Since 2001 when the US government announced it was abandoning the 1972 ABM Treaty with Moscow in order to develop a new missile defense shield, Russia has been seeking to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.

Putin has repeatedly vowed to restore Russia's military power that declined due to budgetary constraints following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2004)