Currently, in the interests of the Russian strategic missile forces, several new complexes of various kinds are being developed, including those using fundamentally new components and products. The command of the Strategic Missile Forces is trying to regularly publish this or that information on the progress of promising projects, and new messages of this kind appeared just a few days ago. The leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the command of the Strategic Missile Forces announced the current plans for the Sarmat and Avangard missile systems.
On December 17, the Day of the Strategic Missile Forces, the newspaper of the Ministry of Defense "Krasnaya Zvezda" published a new interview with the commander of this branch of the armed forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev. In the interview, all the main topics were raised in the context of the service and further development of the Strategic Missile Forces. One of the main topics was the promising materiel entering service or still under development. Of greatest interest is information about current and expected work on projects of new missile systems.
First of all, in the interview they recalled the promising missile system with the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. The commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces recalled that the Russian defense industry continues to work on this project. Not so long ago, the launch tests of the rocket were completed, during which it was possible to work out the technology for preparing the product for launch, and also confirmed the correctness of design decisions related to the launcher and the launch of the rocket. In addition, the "Sarmat" propulsion system was tested.
According to S. Karakaev, active work on the construction of new facilities at the Plesetsk cosmodrome is ongoing. In the near future, this infrastructure will be used for flight tests of the new Sarmat missile. The start of test flights is scheduled for the near future. Successful test flights will make it possible to start serial production of various components of a promising missile system.
The commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces confirmed the previously announced information about the timing of the arrival of the Sarmat complex into service. The rearmament of missile forces and the development of a new material part will begin in 2021. The first to receive new weapons will be the 62nd Uzhurskaya Red Banner Missile Division named after the 60th anniversary of the USSR, serving in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Now this compound uses relatively old Voevoda missiles.
The second most important novelty for the strategic missile forces is the Avangard missile system, which differs from other weapons by the use of a gliding hypersonic warhead. This development was also mentioned in an interview for Krasnaya Zvezda.
Colonel-General S. Karakaev said that the Avangard project had entered a new stage. NPO Mashinostroyenia has already started production of serial samples of the new missile system. The first samples of the new technology will be put on alert next year. They will receive the 13th missile Orenburg Red Banner Division, stationed in the village. Dombarovsky. The commander of the Strategic Missile Forces noted that the complexity of such weapons will not become an obstacle to the successful start of combat duty.
WITH. Karakaev recalled the main features and advantages of the Avangard product. The missile system of this type is equipped with a hypersonic gliding winged warhead and is capable of showing unique combat characteristics. However, the general did not name the exact values of the main parameters. However, he pointed out that the arrival of the Avangard into service would significantly increase the potential of the Strategic Missile Forces grouping. First of all, the new weapon will simplify the breakthrough of the enemy's missile defense and the destruction of high-priority point targets.
From an interview with the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces for Krasnaya Zvezda, it follows that new types of strategic weapons are being created taking into account current threats and challenges. They are given special capabilities designed to ensure the solution of the assigned tasks even in the most difficult conditions. The main challenge is the development of foreign missile defense systems designed to reduce the potential of Russian strategic nuclear forces.
S. Karakaev spoke about the development of a number of military-technical measures to ensure a certain reduction in the effectiveness of foreign missile defense. The consequence of this is the ability to effectively perform a combat mission and strike at enemy targets. The measures taken are primarily related to the creation of new missile systems with the necessary equipment.
The complexes receive modern means of overcoming missile defense and advanced combat equipment, which has a positive effect on their survivability. Also in the plans of the command there is a further development of the so-called. varying the trajectory and ballistic capabilities of new intercontinental missiles. Work will continue to improve the means of functional and fire destruction of various elements of the enemy's missile defense system. The information and reconnaissance, command and strike systems of a potential enemy will be under threat.
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New data on promising weapons and equipment for the strategic missile forces were soon confirmed. Already on December 19, Krasnaya Zvezda published an interview with Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko, who is responsible for organizing the military-technical support of the armed forces. The topic of the interview was the supply of the material part in the outgoing year and plans for the next 2019. Among other things, they remembered about new developments for the strategic missile forces.
A. Krivoruchko spoke about the events of 2018 in the context of the rearmament of the strategic nuclear forces. This year, the main attention was paid to all their components, including the Strategic Missile Forces, while it was about the development, testing and preparation for the production of completely new samples. Thus, the Deputy Defense Minister recalled the recent drop tests of the Sarmat missile.
In the next 2019, the development of strategic nuclear forces will continue, and promising models will be able to enter service. One of the novelties will be the Avangard strategic missile system, which includes a missile with a gliding hypersonic warhead. According to A. Krivoruchko, in 2019 the first regiment rearmed with such systems will take up combat duty.
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The latest reports from officials from the Ministry of Defense once again confirm the already known data on the planned rearmament of the Russian strategic missile forces. Over the past few months, the military department and the media have repeatedly raised the topic of new missile systems and published various data. As it has now become clear, some of these reports received from unnamed sources were true.
For example, the timing of the completion of all the necessary work on the Sarmat missile system became known at the end of October. Then TASS, citing a source in the military-industrial complex, wrote that the flight design tests of the new missile would be completed in 2021. At the same time, the industry will start mass production of such products and transfer them to missile forces for setting on duty.
According to TASS, the first missiles of the new model will have to enter the 62nd Red Banner Division in the village. Solar. First, one of the regiments of this division will have to master the operation of two launchers with missiles of a new type. In the future, the number of installations on duty will triple and will reach the standard number. After the rearmament of the 62nd missile division, the development of the promising Sarmat complex will begin in other formations, but data on this matter have not yet been received.
A few days ago, information about the start of combat duty of new missiles in 2021 and the supply of such weapons to the Uzhur Missile Division received confirmation at the highest level. This information was disclosed personally by the commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces.
It is noteworthy that the latest reports on the progress of work on the Avangard project were most often announced by officials, but not by the press, citing unnamed sources. Since the spring of this year, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the country has regularly raised the topic of new weapons and published interesting data.
The existence of a project of a missile system with special combat equipment in the form of a planning hypersonic warhead was first officially announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his address to the Federal Assembly on March 1. On the same day, Colonel-General S. Karakaev supplemented the president's statements and said that the new complex had already been tested. In the future, various other information about the progress of the project appeared, and in early June V. Putin indicated the expected dates for the adoption of the Avangard into service. The new complex will go into service as early as next 2019.
The latest interviews with S. Karakaev and A. Krivoruchko show that work on the Avangard theme has been completed with the desired results, and the new missile system for the Strategic Missile Forces will be able to enter service in the previously announced terms. Recently it became known that Avangard products have already been put into series, and this allows us to expect an early transfer of serial equipment to strategic missile forces. The processes of putting on duty and mastering a new material part should not take much time.
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According to known data, the development of new types of weapons for strategic missile forces began in the distant past. Thus, the first work on the subject of intercontinental ballistic missiles with hypersonic gliding blocks dates back to the end of the eighties. In the middle of the 2000s, officials talked about the existence of promising projects of this kind. The design of the Sarmat product began no earlier than the end of the last decade, and since 2016, various rocket units have been tested.
An ICBM of the "Sarmat" type is a delivery vehicle for combat equipment of various types. A three-stage missile of a heavy class is capable of carrying, according to various sources, at least 10 warheads of individual guidance. The delivery range of warheads is indicated as "global": the ability to use the most convenient and successful trajectories, including those with increased length, has been obtained. The heavy "Sarmat" is intended to replace the missiles of its class in service, no longer fully meeting the requirements and depleting their resource.
In its basic configuration, the Sarmat appears to be a "classic" intercontinental ballistic missile. One of the other existing ICBMs will soon be able to obtain other capabilities. It is planned to provide them with the help of the Vanguard combat unit. In this case, the rocket must solve the problem of the initial acceleration of such a warhead with its output to the required trajectory. The new type of hypersonic combat equipment significantly increases the characteristics of the missile system and expands its capabilities.
The Avangard product is a hypersonic glider built with extensive use of composite materials. He is able to develop speeds of up to several kilometers per second and carry out active maneuvering on the trajectory. On board such a glider, there is probably a special warhead of unknown power. Due to its characteristic features, Avangard is able to move along an optimal trajectory, as well as overcome existing and future missile defense systems.
One of the main prerequisites for the creation of new missile systems for the Strategic Missile Forces is the already completed and planned measures for the deployment of foreign missile defense systems in Eastern Europe and other regions. For this reason, the new projects "Sarmat" and "Avangard" use various solutions aimed at effectively overcoming enemy missile defense. Moreover, in the case of Avangard, such measures are used already at the level of the basic concept.
According to official data, the Avangard product will be the first of the promising models. Serial production of such warheads has already begun, and next year they will be handed over to the troops. The Sarmat missile will have to wait longer. The tests of this complex will end only in 2021, and then its service will begin. The development of the strategic missile forces continues, and the command is ready to report on successes.
