In the current State Armaments Program, a special place is reserved for the renewal of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces). As follows from open information, by 2020 it is planned to establish mass production of missiles of existing projects and develop several new ones. At the same time, the Strategic Missile Forces continues to equip the existing models with various equipment. The special priority of updating the missile forces is due to their quantitative and qualitative share in the Russian nuclear forces. The soldiers and officers of the Strategic Missile Forces are currently responsible for two-thirds of the country's carriers of strategic weapons and for about half of the nuclear warheads. As a consequence, the Strategic Missile Forces are the main element of the nuclear deterrent force.
RT-2PM2 Topol-M (photo by Vitaly Kuzmin, As part of the current state program, several large formations are currently being re-equipped at once. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, our country has such an opportunity. Not so long ago, the 54th Guards Missile Division of the Order of Kutuzov, stationed in the city of Teikovo, received new missiles and related equipment. Now this unit has the RT-2PM2 Topol-M and RS-24 Yars missile systems. Both new missile systems, among other things, are interesting in that they are universal and can be used in both silo and mobile launchers. In addition, Topol-M and Yars became the first domestic land-based intercontinental missiles created after the collapse of the USSR.
It is not only the Teikovo division that is equipped with Topol-M missiles. At least fifty missile silos of this complex are owned by the 60th Taman Missile Order of the October Revolution of the Red Banner Division (ZATO Svetly, Saratov Region). In 1997, it was this division of the Strategic Missile Forces that became the first unit to receive new missiles. Since then, the Topol-M has become the main intercontinental missile of the Russian strategic missile forces. So, for example, in the 33rd Guards Missile Army (Omsk), three out of four divisions are equipped with RT-2PM2 missiles. As for the remaining unit (the 62nd Red Banner Missile Division), it has R-36M missiles, which will soon be replaced by Yars.
It should be noted that the strategic missile forces must be equipped not only with modern weapons. The very essence of this type of troops implies the presence of a large number of auxiliary equipment for various purposes. Over the past and current year, the Strategic Missile Forces units received more than 260 units of automotive equipment. Slightly more than a hundred vehicles produced by the Ulyanovsk and Kama Automobile Plants went to serve last year, and the rest entered the troops over the past months of 2012. Most of the vehicles delivered this year are vehicles for various purposes, assembled on the basis of the KAMAZ-53501 truck. In addition, this year the Kama Automobile Plant has carried out overhaul and modernization of two dozen vehicles based on KAMAZ-43114. A few more cars are likely to be upgraded in the future.
Another class of auxiliary equipment that the Strategic Missile Forces received this year is engineering vehicles. This year, the missile forces received about twenty bulldozers, track paving machines, truck cranes, earthmoving machines, etc. In the future, an increase in the rate of deliveries of such equipment is expected due to the need to update the auxiliary fleet. Also, over the past months of this year, the engineering units of the Strategic Missile Forces received more than 45 tons of various engineering equipment, from shovels to camouflage complexes. Recently, the 54th division received six engineering support and camouflage vehicles (MIOM) 15M69. These machines allow simulating the signs of movement and parking of mobile launchers of the Topol, Topol-M or Yars complexes. To do this, each MIOM carries special graders that destroy the track of a vehicle with a launcher or create tracks similar to the track of a combat vehicle with a rocket. If necessary, MIOM can use special containers with false targets that have the same thermal and radar "appearance" as real launchers. One 15M69 vehicle can thus simulate a battalion of six combat vehicles with missiles. Another important and useful in practice capability of the MIOM machine is to measure the characteristics of bridges and determine the possibility of the passage of launchers. For this, the 15M69 machines carry a set of measuring electronic equipment, as well as special pull-out frames. The latter make it possible to determine whether a vehicle with a launcher can pass somewhere or not.
MIOM 15M69 in the Teikovo missile formation, July 2012 (https://pressa-rvsn.livejournal.com)
The supply of new weapons and equipment to the Strategic Missile Forces continues and in the future, most likely, will gain momentum. At the same time, in the coming years, it is reported, not only new models of automotive and engineering equipment will be created, but also new missiles. This means that the bulk of the domestic nuclear forces will retain their combat potential.
