MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Rearmament of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) with the newest Yars mobile missile system is planned to be completed by 2021. Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman for RVSN Dmitry Andreyev told TASS on Thursday that a division of the Yoshkar-Ola RVSN formation will be transferred to the Yars system in 2016.
"On July 23, 1985, the first mobile missile regiment with intercontinental-range missiles was put on combat duty in the Republic of Mari El. The Yoshkar-Ola formation is currently armed with the Topol mobile missile system. In 2016, the division is to be re-equipped with the newest Yars mobile missile system," Andreyev said.
- Snap check of Russia’s Strategic Missile Troops underway in Siberia
- Only Russian companies to develop new railway combat missile complex — official
- Russia’s modern missile systems to counter US missile defense — Defense Ministry
- Russia to start tests of new heavy intercontinental missile in 18-24 months — official
- Russian missile forces divisions to be fully rearmed with Yars systems by 2021 — ministry
- Share of Russian Strategic Missile Forces modern equipment supply rises to 46%
- Russia always knew that US missile defense was aimed against it and China — security chief
In the next few years, the Topol mobile missile systems will remain at the heart of Russia’s "nuclear shield." About a hundred mobile missile carriers are now on combat duty across the country. The Topol mobile missile system, which has no analogues in the foreign missile industry, is designed to engage all types of strategic targets. Ove the past 30 years, about 100 missile launches have been carried out without a single abortive launch.
Yars is the result of modernization of the Topol system to destroy enemy’s stationary strategic targets with the RS-24 missile. It has increased total power of multiple warheads, equivalent to 45 US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
On Tuesday, advisor to the RVSN commander Viktor Yesin said that all missile divisions of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces would be rearmed with the Yars and Yars-M mobile ground missile systems with the RS-26 missile in 2021. "The process of rearmament of all missile divisions, which now use the Topol missile complex, with the Yars mobile missile system and Yars-M system, which is sometimes called Rubezh, with the RS-26 missile, is planned to be completed in 2021. By that time the Topol mobile missile system will be withdrawn from service," Yesin said.
According to him, the Topol missile system is currently in service with 7 RVSN divisions of the total 12. "The Teikovo missile division has been rearmed with the Topol-M and Yars missile systems now. Its rearmament has been completed," he said.