MOSCOW, August 18, 2008 (AFP) - Russia denied Monday a US newspaper report that it had deployed tactical missile launchers in Georgia's rebel province of South Ossetia.

'There was no need for it,' General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said at a briefing for journalists, referring to deployment of the weapons reported by The New York Times.

The daily, citing unnamed US officials familiar with intelligence reports, said Russia had deployed the short-range missiles within striking distance of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

The paper called the missiles 'SS-21s', reflecting the terminology used by NATO, which calls the system the 'SS-21 Scarab'. The Russian designation for the system is the '9K79-1 Tochka-U'.

Nogovitsyn said the system was 'widely used' by Russian forces but indicated it had not been deployed in South Ossetia.

The New York Times reported that the missiles were positioned north of Tskhinvali, the main city in South Ossetia.