Russian Strategic Missile Forces – a factor of global securitySince childhood, we have known Alexander Nevsky's phrase well: "Whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword."
Previously, this "sword" was a rather vague and rather abstract concept. Since about the 1960s, it has become very specific. Our sword is the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN).
Thanks to the numerous strategic arms limitation treaties and strategic offensive arms (START), the United States knows in great detail the composition and deployment of our strategic missile forces. It is much more difficult for our own citizens in this regard. But some information about these troops is still available, and it will be given below.
THE CURRENT STATE OF THE RVSNCurrently, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces have three missile armies in their composition.
The headquarters of the 27th Missile Army is located in Vladimir. The army consists of five missile divisions.
The 7th Missile Division is stationed in the village of Ozerny in the Tver region and includes two missile regiments (41st and 510th). Each of them has nine mobile launchers of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
In the 510th regiment, this is the RS-12M "Topol", these missiles are monoblock, they are considered obsolete and are gradually being withdrawn from service. The 41st regiment has already been re-equipped with Yars ICBMs, each of which carries three or four combat units (warheads). Whether it is advisable to deploy ICBMs near the borders with NATO member countries is an open question.
The 14th Missile Division is stationed in Yoshkar-Ola (Republic of Mari El). It includes three missile regiments: the 290th, 697th and 779th. All of them are re-equipped with the latest mobile ICBMs RS-24 "Yars" (nine ICBMs per regiment).
The 28th Missile Division is stationed in the city of Kozelsk, Kaluga region. It consists of two missile regiments (74th, 168th) with 10 mine PU in each. They are re-equipped with a mine version of the "Yarsov". It is possible that the division has a third regiment (214th or 373rd), which will also receive mine "Yarses".
The 54th Missile Division is stationed in Teykovo, Ivanovo region, and consists of four missile regiments. The 235th and 321st regiments have nine PU RS-12M2 "Topol-M" mobile ICBMs, created on the basis of "Topol". The 285th and 773rd regiments are armed with nine PU mobile ICBMs "Yars".
The 60th Missile Division is deployed in the village of Svetly in the Tatishchevsky district of the Saratov region. It is the largest not only in the 27th Army, but also in the Strategic Missile Forces as a whole and includes 10 missile regiments. Each of these regiments has 10 mine PU. Now the division apparently has six deployed missile regiments (31st, 104th, 122nd, 165th, 626th and 203rd or 687th). They are equipped with RT-2PM2 ICBM (mine version of "Topol-M").
Thus, the 27th Missile Army is armed with nine mobile ICBMs "Topol", 78 (60 mine, 18 mobile) ICBM "Topol-M", 54 mobile and at least 20 mine ICBMs "Yars". If we continue to assume that each "Yars" carries three warheads, then a total of 309 warheads are placed on 161 ICBMs of the 27th army.
The headquarters of the 31st Missile Army is located in Orenburg. The army consists of three missile divisions.
The 8th Missile Division is stationed in the village of Yurya, Kirov region. All three of its missile regiments (76th, 304th, 776th) are armed with mobile ICBMs "Topol". At the same time, at least some of these ICBMs are equipped not with a nuclear warhead, but with a transmitter of the Perimeter-RC system, known as the "Dead Hand". The task of the system is to provide a retaliatory nuclear strike against the aggressor even in the event of the death of the entire military and political leadership of the country.
The 13th Missile Army is stationed in the city of Yasny, Orenburg region. Its missile regiments are armed with six mine-based R-36M2 "Voevoda" ICBMs. These are the most powerful ICBMs in the world. Each of them carries 10 nuclear warheads, although their combat load can be much greater, and the range of flight within the Earth is almost unlimited (that is, the strike can be applied not only along the shortest trajectory, known as the "arc of the great circle"). However, this unique missile is outdated and is being withdrawn from service. It should be replaced by the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, also carrying up to 10 warheads.
At the same time, it was the 13th Division that received the first UR-100N carriers of the Avangard hypersonic vehicles. Presumably, three regiments (most likely the 175th, 494th and 368th or 767th) will receive "Sarmatians", and two (621st, 368th or 767th) - "Vanguards", and the 621st regiment has already received the first two "Vanguards" (there may already be more of them).
The 42nd Missile Division is stationed in the village of Svobodny near the city of Nizhny Tagil, Sverdlovsk region. All three of its missile regiments (142nd, 433rd, 804th) are equipped with mobile Yars ICBMs.
Thus, the 31st Missile Army is armed with 27 mobile Yars ICBMs, at least two mine UR-100N with Avangards and 18 mine Voevoda ICBMs. These 47 ICBMs carry a total of 263 warheads (if you count the Avangard for one warhead). The status of the 8th Division's ICBMs is unclear, so they and their warheads are not included in this amount.
The headquarters of the 33rd Missile Army is located in Omsk. It includes four missile divisions.
The 29th Missile Division is stationed in Irkutsk. It consists of three missile regiments (92nd, 344th and 586th), which are armed with nine mobile ICBMs "Yars.
The 35th Missile Division is stationed in the village of Sibirsky in the Altai Territory. All of its four missile regiments (307th, 479th, 480th, 867th) are equipped with mobile Yars ICBMs.
The 39th Missile Division is stationed in Novosibirsk. It consists of three missile regiments (357th, 382nd, 428th), all of them have nine PU mobile ICBMs "Yars".
The 62nd Missile Division is stationed in the village of Solnechny in the Uzhursky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Its missile regiments (229th, 269th, 302nd, 735th) are armed with R-36M2 "Voevoda" ICBMs (10 mine PU in the 735th regiment, six in the other three). Presumably, the 302nd Regiment is being re-equipped with the RS-28 Sarmat.
Thus, the 33rd missile Army is armed with 90 mobile ICBMs "Yars", 28 mine ICBMs "Voevoda". A total of 118 ICBMs of the 33rd Army have 550 warheads.
In general (excluding the 8th missile Division), the RVSN now has nine mobile "Poplars", 78 (60 mine, 18 mobile) "Poplars-M", at least two mine UR-100N with "Avangards", 171 mobile and 20 mine "Yars", 46 mine "Voevod". In total, these 326 ICBMs carry up to 1122 warheads.
PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTSIn general, the development trends of the strategic missile Forces cannot be called favorable, since old ICBMs are written off faster than new ones arrive.
The number of warheads is decreasing even faster, since there are significantly fewer of them on incoming "Yars" than on retired UR-100N and outgoing "Voivodes".
Because of this, the share of the naval component in the Russian Nuclear Deterrent Forces (SNF) has now increased significantly for the first time in history (due to the receipt of the PKK CH pr. 955 with the R-30 Bulava SLBM). However, the situation can be corrected by the adoption of "Sarmatians".
At the moment, the Strategic nuclear Forces (both in Russia and in other nuclear powers) are not a weapon for war, but a political and psychological deterrent. They are considered a guarantor for the owner country against any external aggression. Although in fact, in the absence of full-fledged conventional forces, the situation may develop in such a way that nuclear weapons will not help either.
In any case, if it is difficult to imagine the use of tactical nuclear weapons in combat, but it is possible, then the Strategic Nuclear Forces are a "weapon of the apocalypse". Its use means the end of human civilization. Or at least throwing its remnants back thousands of years in terms of development.
Until now, it is generally assumed that 90% of the nuclear weapons available on earth belong to the United States and Russia. In fact, this is no longer a fact at all – after the numerous cuts that the American and Soviet/Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces went through.
If the number of nuclear warheads in the UK and France is known well enough and it is really small, then how many of them are available in all four types of the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) is unknown even approximately. At the same time, it can be very large, especially in connection with the entry into service of the DF-41 ICBM (see " China is hiding behind a nuclear shield ", "HBO" from 25.11.22).
Almost nothing is actually known about the nuclear arsenals of Israel, India, Pakistan, and the DPRK. Therefore, those 90% are obviously a thing of the past (although this figure is still endlessly repeated by seemingly serious people). And new reductions in nuclear weapons cannot be bilateral, as before. Either they will be multilateral, or they will not exist at all.
Moreover, if the United States and the Russian Federation further reduce their nuclear weapons, then, no matter how surprising it may sound, nuclear war will cease to be absolutely impossible. That is, the use of the remaining nuclear weapons may no longer lead to a global catastrophe. Accordingly, the Strategic Nuclear Forces will cease to be a deterrent. And this will greatly reduce the level of security for all countries.
However, due to the current extreme aggravation of Russian-American relations, the prospects for nuclear disarmament seem frankly illusory, which is confirmed by the suspension of Russia's participation in the START-3 treaty. But the threat of nuclear war has become even higher due to the blatant inadequacy of Western political elites.
In this regard, strengthening the potential of the Strategic Nuclear Forces in general and the Strategic Missile Forces in particular is an extremely important task (although, of course, by no means at the expense of the development of conventional forces).
In addition, it is likely that it is necessary to completely revise the entire concept of the construction of the RVSN. In particular, it is necessary to return to the idea of creating railway and automobile hidden-based ICBMs that are not detected by means of space reconnaissance (see "It's time to stop nuclear lawlessness ", "NWO" from 06.10.17).
It is possible that another concept needs to be changed: to replace the underwater component of the Strategic Nuclear Forces (see "There are problems in the defense of Russia's maritime borders ", "NWO" from 05.10.18) on the surface – in the person of vessels disguised as commercial and plying exclusively on inland waterways. That is, the principle of hidden basing would also be implemented here.
Strategic aviation, apparently, should be reoriented to solving primarily non-nuclear tasks in a conventional war (see " Air strategists ", "HVO" from 07.12.18). In part, this is already happening in Ukraine.
As for hypothetical reductions, regardless of the implementation of START-3, which is formally still in effect now (see " Unstable equilibrium, temporary calm ", "NWO" of 12.02.21), we do not need any new treaties (even multilateral, not to mention bilateral).
The sword is too valuable to cut. On the contrary, it is necessary to sharpen it as best as possible.
Alexander KhramchikhinAlexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.
