Russian Strategic Missile Forces to procure brand new missile systems by 2020 - ministry
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Strategic Missile Forces command will strictly control the time and quantity of the delivery of armaments and hardware made under government contracts in 2014, the Forces Military Board has decided.
"By the years 2018-2020, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces will be armed with brand new missile systems, which will allow the Russian strategic nuclear forces to preserve the quota of deployed delivery vehicles and warheads set by the new START Treaty. A resolution passed at the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Military Board meeting mapped out ways to achieve this goal," Russian Defense Ministry press service and information department spokesman for the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Col. Igor Yegorov told Interfax-AVN.
The Military Board discussed the rearming of missile regiments with new strategic missile systems and maintenance of the forces' armaments and hardware, he continued.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the forces currently possess about 400 ICBM launchers.
"Consistent with the plan of the strategic nuclear forces' development approved by the Russian political administration, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces will develop and modernize their armaments to the utmost degree within the quantitative limits imposed by the new Russian-U.S. treaty on the reduction of strategic offensive armaments [the new START Treaty]," the officer said.
Missile regiments of the Tagil and Novosibirsk divisions will continue their shift to road-mobile Yars systems in 2014, he said.
"The latter [the Novosibirsk division] has performed autonomous tests of launchers and launch-associated support vehicles, which were put on a trial run within launch batteries in December 2013," the Russian Defense Ministry representative said.
The Tagil division is reequipping two regiments and the Novosibirsk division is reequipping one, he added. The first regiment of the Kozelsk missile division in the Kaluga region is switching to silo-based Yars systems.
The Military Board gave much attention "to the development of new methods of combat use of missile regiments armed with modern combat missile systems and new forms and ways of the suppression of terrorism," Yegorov said.
"Activation of units to the highest degree of combat readiness is a priority of tactical training in 2014. This is why the number of surprise inspections has doubled in the Russian Strategic Missile Forces," the officer said.