MOSCOW, March 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia will begin flight tests of anew sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile, Defense MinisterSergei Ivanov said on Tuesday, according to Itar-Tass news agency.

    "We will begin flight tests of the sea-based Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles" while adopting the Topol-M mobile missile systems, Ivanov told German and Italian press.

    The minister did not say when the test of the strategic missile system, which could be armed with a nuclear warhead and modernizedfor land-based use in the future, will start.

    Russia currently stores most of its heaviest, intercontinental ballistic Topol-M missiles in silos. The Russian leadership has repeatedly said that it was developing unrivaled missiles that could penetrate any defense systems in the world and no other countries could catch up with.

    Russia will remain a major nuclear power, "but we will not bakemissiles like cakes as we did in the Soviet era," Ivanov was citedas saying.

    He stressed that the quantity of the missiles should ensure Russia's security in any potential development of the international situation. Enditem