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| | Worldandnation: Military's all geared up, but missile launch is a no-go |
 | | Putin, who is expected to easily win the presidential election March 14, went to the Barents Sea on board the giant Arkhangelsk submarine to observe maneuvers set to involve numerous missile launches and flights of strategic bombers. |
 | | But the ambitious exercise hit a snag when a ballistic missile - a missile that is launched on a high-arch trajectory to hit a target - failed to blast off as scheduled from another submarine, the Novomoskovsk, a government official said on condition of anonymity. |
 | | The exercises, which began in late January, reached their peak Tuesday when 13 Northern Fleet ships and seven nuclear submarines, including the Arkhangelsk, went out to sea, practicing launches of air defense missiles, according to Channel One television. |
| www.sptimes.com /2004/02/18/news_pf/Worldandnation/Military_s_all_geared.shtml (530 words) |
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