TSAMTO, December 16. The commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, on the eve of the Day of Strategic Missile Forces, which is celebrated on December 17, gave a detailed interview to the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda.
Below is a fragment of an interview concerning the rearmament of the Strategic Missile Forces with new complexes.
– Are new missile systems being developed? Are research and development activities carried out within the framework of the current state armament program?– The development of modern missile systems with giving them new combat and operational qualities is a continuous and vital process implemented in the state armament program and state defense orders.
Trends in the development of science and technology do not allow Strategic Missile Forces to stand still. Of course, the research organizations of the Strategic Missile Forces are searching for new technologies, including breakthrough ones, which can be applied during modernization, as well as the creation of new strategic weapons. Today, such studies are being conducted, including by the Russian military-industrial complex within the framework of the GPV, which are aimed at increasing the combat capabilities of promising missile systems and ensuring strategic deterrence. One of the results of such work is the Sarmat missile system, which in the coming years will form the basis of the grouping of heavy stationary mine-based missiles, as well as the Avangard and Yars missile systems that are entering the troops today.
Constant work on carrying out experimental design and research works allows the Russian Federation to remain an advanced military-technical power.
– When will the Strategic Missile Forces complete the re-equipment of mobile Poplars to Yarsi?– The rearmament of the RVSN mobile group on the Yars PGRK began with the Teikovo missile compound located in the Ivanovo region.
In 2009, the first missile regiment equipped with the Yars mobile missile system took up combat duty.
To date, strategic rocket scientists have managed to re-equip all RVSN units from Ivanovo to Irkutsk with this complex and, within the planned time frame, begin re-equipping the westernmost division of the RVSN, located in the Tver region.
Next year, by putting on combat duty the next missile regiment of the Bologovsky compound, the Strategic Missile Forces as a whole will complete the re-equipment of the mobile group to the Yars mobile ground missile system.
– Is Russia developing a new mobile missile system with breakthrough capabilities to overcome missile defense?– The rearmament of troops with new missile systems is one of the main directions of increasing the capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces to perform tasks in any situation.
This process is accompanied by an improvement in the characteristics of missiles and their combat equipment. This mainly concerns the possibilities of overcoming both existing and prospective missile defense systems.
Next year, we are starting to develop a promising mobile-based missile system that will have greater mobility than the Yars rocket launcher, the ability to quickly relocate and launch from any areas throughout the Russian Federation.
– How is the rearmament of formations equipped with mine-based missile systems going?– In 2022, work continued on the re-equipment of the regiments of the Kozelsky missile compound to the Yars missile complex in the mine-based version and the next regiment of the Yasnensky missile compound to the Avangard missile complex.
– Which missile regiments went on combat duty on the eve of the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces?– Today, in the Tver region, in the Bologovsky missile compound, a missile regiment equipped with a mobile ground missile system "Yars" took up combat duty, and on the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces, the real gift for the professional holiday will be the intercession of another regiment equipped with the Avangard missile complex in the Yasnensky missile compound.
– On April 20, 2022, a new page in the domestic rocket industry was opened. On this day, a successful launch of a new stationary intercontinental ballistic missile "Sarmat" was carried out at the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region from a mine launcher. What does this mean for the Strategic Missile Forces and Russia as a whole? What is the peculiarity of this missile system?– First of all, this launch confirmed the correctness of the schematic design solutions implemented during the creation of the missile complex by the general designer and the cooperation of industry.
The Sarmat missile system has a wide range of capabilities for the use of various types of combat equipment, which are based on technical principles that make it possible to overcome any missile defense system both now and in the future.
In the current conditions, the creation of this missile system for Russia speaks of strengthening strategic security.
For the Strategic Missile Forces, this means that ahead of us lies the work of rearmament and the study of new equipment entering the troops.
– For what reason was the Uzhur rocket compound chosen for rearmament to the Sarmat missile complex? Will this missile system be delivered to other divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces?– This choice is largely due to the fact that the missile division stationed in Uzhur has the technical capability to deploy heavy-class missile systems with a liquid intercontinental ballistic missile.
In addition, the Uzhur connection has an important strategic position, so it will be re-equipped first. To accommodate the new missile system, the infrastructure of the existing Voevoda missile system is used, which significantly reduces the time and cost of its deployment.
The decision to deploy this missile system in other divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces will depend on the current military-strategic situation and the need to further increase the combat power of the Strategic Missile Forces.
– Why is the Sarmat missile system called invulnerable to the missile defense system even in the West?– In many characteristics, the new complex surpasses its predecessor "Voivode".
A short upper stage ensures earlier separation of combat units, significantly complicates the detection of a missile leaving the launch site and its defeat by missile defense strike means.
The energy capabilities of the Sarmat missile system make it possible to use an expanded range of combat equipment on the rocket.
The creators of the Sarmat missile system managed to obtain unique characteristics of the new missile, the values of which suggest that the capabilities of existing and promising missile defense systems will simply be leveled.
The current production rates of strategic missile systems fully meet the needs of the Strategic Missile Forces. The enterprises of the military-industrial complex are ready and produce in a given quantity modern RKSN, including heavy class, and the available technological capacities allow, if necessary, to increase their production.
– What is the current share of modern missile systems in the combat composition of the Strategic Missile Forces?– Taking into account the implementation of plans for putting on combat duty in 2022, the share of modern weapons in the group is more than 85 percent.
The full interview of Colonel-General S. Karakayev is published in today's issue of the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda.
