MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. The Irkutsk missile formation armed with Yars road-mobile ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) launchers wrapped up command and staff drills, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Monday.
"The Strategic Missile Force completed a command and staff exercise with the Irkutsk missile formation armed with Yars missile launchers. In total, the drills brought together over 3,000 personnel and about 300 items of equipment," the ministry said in a statement.
The drills showed the high level of the Irkutsk missile formation’s combat preparedness and the personnel’s professionalism, it said.
"During the command and staff exercise, the personnel of the Irkutsk formation of the Strategic Missile Force accomplished a wide range of objectives and scenarios, in particular, carrying out intensive maneuvers along combat patrol routes," the ministry said.
During the drills, Yars ICBM launcher teams practiced conducting 100 km marches, dispersing launchers with a change of field positions and their equipping, as well as organizing camouflaging and combat security, it specified.
"The Strategic Missile Force personnel also exercised to counter subversive/reconnaissance groups. Combat support units withdrew special equipment from notional chemical contamination areas. The exercise helped raise the level of the personnel’s preparedness and interoperability of the Strategic Missile Force’s units and formations," it said.
The RS-24 Yars is a Russian strategic missile system comprising a mobile or silo-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile with MIRVed (multiple independently targetable vehicle) warheads. The Yars is a modification of the Topol-M missile system. Russia started deploying Yars ICBM systems in 2009 when the Yars launcher was accepted for experimental combat duty in the Strategic Missile Force.