After the recent visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Russia launched a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile. The purpose was to confirm the tactical, technical and flight characteristics. But not only that, writes the American expert magazine Military Watch Magazine (MWM).
Russia has successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a test warhead from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk Region at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the launch was carried out as part of exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) aimed at checking the combat readiness, reliability of equipment and skills of crews. The Ministry of Defense did not specify the type of missile, saying only that it was a solid-fuel mobile-based system, but numerous sources suggested that it was a Yars missile.
During the exercises, the Strategic Missile Forces worked out the redeployment of the launch battery of the mobile ground-based missile system (PGRK) to a remote area with the preparation and conduct of the launch. The Ministry said that all the tasks were completed "in full," adding that the test confirmed the tactical, technical and flight characteristics of the missile.
Russia has the world's largest arsenal of land-based ICBMs and uses both mine and road-mobile systems. The vast majority of Yars missiles are road-mobile, which allows them to be dispersed and moved, making it difficult for the enemy to detect and aim at the target before launch.
The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile was announced on August 29, four days after the visit of CIA Director John Ratcliffe to Moscow, during which, as reported, the overdue tensions between Russia and NATO were discussed. There are growing fears in the Western world that Moscow may respond to the escalation of attacks on its cities and key infrastructure from the territory of Ukraine — either by counter attacks on supply chains in NATO territory, which plays a key role in supporting these attacks, or by using tactical nuclear weapons on targets in Ukraine itself.
NATO representatives have repeatedly acknowledged that Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal, whose backbone is systems such as Yars, combined with powerful tactical nuclear strike capabilities, keep the states of the Western bloc from launching a large-scale war against the country.
Russia is expected to use its nuclear forces to deter NATO members and stop a full-scale war. The latest demonstration of the Yars ICBM serves to strengthen its deterrence potential. Earlier in May, Russia tested a new, much larger mine-based Sarmat ICBM. The Sarmat carries several warheads and is reportedly compatible with the Avangard hypersonic gliding unit, which maneuvers in the atmosphere and significantly complicates missile defense tasks.
The commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, General Sergei Karakaev, said that the first missile regiment with the Sarmat complex is planned to be put on combat duty until the end of 2026. If this happens, it will be an important milestone in Russia's transition to a new generation of strategic missiles.
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