Strategic Missile Troops

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Ракетные войска стратегического назначения
Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya
Strategic Missile Troops
Medium emblem of the Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Федерации.svg
RSF great emblem.jpg
Bandera SRF.png
SRF emblem and flag
Active December 17, 1959 – present
Country Russian Federation (earlier – Soviet Union)
Role Strategic deterrence
Garrison/HQ Вла́сиха (Одинцово-10), 2.5 km northwest of Odintsovo, Moscow Oblast
Anniversaries December 17
Commanders
Current
commander		 Lieutenant General Sergei Viktorovich Karakayev[1]

The Strategic Missile Troops or Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or RVSN RF[2] are a military branch of the Russian Military that controls Russia's land-based ICBMs. The RVSN was first formed in the Soviet Armed Forces, and when the USSR collapsed in 1990–1991, it effectively changed its name from the Soviet to the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces.

The Strategic Rocket Forces were created on December 17, 1959 as the main Soviet force used for attacking an enemy's offensive nuclear weapons, military facilities, and industrial infrastructure.[3] They operated all Soviet ground-based intercontinental, intermediate-range, and medium-range nuclear missiles with ranges over 1,000 kilometers.

Similar organizations in other nations include United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM), and the 2nd Artillery Corps in China. Complementary strategic forces within Russia are the Long Range Aviation and the Russian Navy's ballistic missile submarines.

Contents

[edit] History

The first Soviet rocket study unit was established in July 1946, by redesignating a Soviet Ground Forces Guards Mortar regiment at Berka in East Germany as the 92nd Special-purpose Brigade of the RVGK [Supreme High Command Reserve] (92 BON RVGK).[4] On October 18, 1947 the brigade conducted the first launch of the remanufactured former German A-4 ballistic missile, or R-1, from the Kapustin Yar Range.[5] In the early 1950s the 77th and 90th Brigades were also formed to operate the R-1 (SS-1a Scunner). The 54th and 56th Brigades were formed to conduct test launches of the R-2 (SS-2 Sibling) at Kapustin Yar on June 1, 1952.

From 1959 the Soviets introduced a number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) into service, including the SS-4 'Sandal', the SS-6 'Sapwood' (R-7), the SS-7 'Saddler' (R-16), the SS-8 'Sasin' (R-9A), the SS-8 'Sasin' (R-26), the SS-9 'Scarp' (R-36), and the SS-16 'Sinner' (RT-21), which was possibly never made fully operational. By 1990 all these early types of missiles had been retired from service.

Two rocket armie were formed in 1960. The 43rd Rocket Army and the 50th Rocket Army were formed from the previous 43rd and 50th Air Armies of the Long Range Aviation.

During a test of the R-16 ICBM on October 24, 1960, the test missile exploded on the pad, killing the first commander of the SRF, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. This disaster, the details of which were concealed for decades, became known as the Nedelin catastrophe. He was succeeded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko, who in turn was succeeded quickly by Marshal Sergey Biryuzov.[6] Under Marshal Вiryuzov the SRF deployed missiles to Cuba in 1962 as part of Operation Anadyr. 36 R-12 intermediate range ballistic missiles were sent to Cuba, initiating the Cuban Missile Crisis. 43rd Guards Missile Division of 43rd Rocket Army manned the missiles while in Cuba.[7]

Marshal Nikolai Krylov then took over in March 1963 and served until February 1972. During this time French President Charles de Gaulle visited the Strategic Rocket Forces in 1966. Together with NI Krylov, he visited a missile division in Novosibirsk, and then at the invitation of Leonid Brezhnev participated in a demonstration missile launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR. Chief Marshal of Artillery Vladimir Fedorovich Tolubko commanded the SRF from 12.4.72 to 10.7.85. Tolubko emphasised raising the physical fitness standards within the SRF. He was succeeded by General of the Army Yury Pavlovich Maksimov, who commanded from 10.7.85 to August 19, 1992.

According to a 1980 TIME Magazine article citing analysts from RAND Corporation, Soviet non-Slavs were generally barred from joining the Strategic Rocket Forces because of suspicions of loyalty of ethnic minorities to the Kremlin.[8]

U.S. DOD map of Soviet ICBM bases, 1980s

In 1989 the Strategic Rocket Forces had over 1,400 ICBMs, 300 launch control centers, and twenty-eight missile bases.[9] The SMT also operated SS-20 (RSD-10 Pioneer) intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and SS-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Two-thirds of the road-mobile Soviet SS-20 force was based in the western Soviet Union and was aimed at Western Europe. One-third of the force was located east of the Ural Mountains and was targeted primarily against China. Older SS-4 missiles were deployed at fixed sites in the western Soviet Union. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in December 1987, called for the elimination of all 553 Soviet SS-20 and SS-4 missiles within three years. As of mid-1989, over 50% of SS-20 and SS-4 missiles had been eliminated.

By 1990 the Soviet Union had seven types of operational ICBMs; about 50% were heavy SS-18 and SS-19 ICBMs, which carried 80% of the country's land-based ICBM warheads. By this time it was also producing new mobile, and hence survivable ICBMs, the SS-24 and SS-25. In 1990, with the SS-4 apparently fully retired, the IISS reported that there were 350 SS-11 'Sego' (UR-100) (Mod 2/3), 60 SS-13 'Savage' (RT-2) still in service in one missile field, 75 SS-17 'Spanker' (UR-100MR) (Mod 3, with 4 MIRV), 308 SS-18s (mostly Mod 4 with 10 MIRV), 320 SS-19 (mostly Mod 3 with 6 MIRV), some 60 SS-24 'Scalpel' (RT-23) (silo and rail-mobile), and some 225 SS-25 (mobile).[10]

Composition of the Strategic Rocket Forces 1960–1991

Formation Headquarters Location Year formed as Corps Year formed as Army Year disbanded[6] Divisions
27th Guard Rocket Army HQ Vladimir, Moscow Military District 01.09.59 1970 Still active 7th Guards Rocket Division, 28th Guards Rocket Division, (32 [1]), 54th Guards Rocket Division, 60th Rocket Division
31st Rocket Army Orenburg, Urals Military District 05.09.65 1970 Still active 8th, 13th, 14th, (41), 42nd, 50, 52, (55), 59
33rd Guards Rocket Army Omsk, Siberian Military District 1962 1970 Still active 23, (34), 35th, 36th Guards, 38, 39th Guards, 57, 62
43rd Rocket Army[11] Vinnitsa, Kiev Military District – 1960 May 8, 1996 19 (Khmelnitsky), 37th Guards (Lutsk), 43 (Kremenchug), 44 (Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankovsk Oblast, disbanded March 31, 1990. Previously 73rd Engineer Brigade RVGK at Kamyshin.),[12] 46 (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast)
50th Rocket Army[13] Smolensk, Belorussian Military District – 1960 June 30, 1990 1988:[6] 7th Guards, 24th Guards (Gvardeysk, Kaliningrad Oblast),[14] 31st Guards (former 83rd Guards Bryansko-Berlinskaya Aviation (Missile) Division, renumbered July 1, 1960), 32nd (Postavy, Vitebsk Oblast), 40th, 49th Guards (Lida, Grodno Oblast, 1963 to 1990), 58th (Karmelava, Lithuania)
53rd Rocket Army[15] Chita, Transbaikal Military District 1962 June 8, 1970 Sept. 16, 2002 1988:[6] 4th Missile Division (Drovyanaya, Chita Oblast),[16] 23rd Guards Missile Division (Kansk, assigned 1983–2002), 27th Rocket Division (Svobodnyy, Amur Oblast), 29th, 36th Guards, 47th Rocket Division (Olovyannaya, Chita Oblast)[17]

Source: Feskov, V.I.; Kalashnikov, K.A., Golikov, V.I. (2004). The Soviet Army in the Years of the Cold War 1945–91. Tomsk: Tomsk University Publishing House. p. 132. ISBN 5-7511-1819-7.  and Holm, Strategic Rocket Forces

Like most of the Russian military, the Strategic Rocket Forces have had limited access to resources for new equipment in the Yeltsin era. However, the Russian government has made a priority of ensuring that the Rocket Forces receive new missiles to phase out older, less-reliable systems, and to incorporate newer capabilities in the face of international threats to the viability of the nuclear deterrent effect provided by their missiles, in particular the development of missile defense systems in the United States.

In 1995, the decree of the President of Russia № 1239 from December 10, 1995 "On establishing the Day of the Strategic Rocket Forces Day and Military Space Forces Day" was promulgated. On July 16, 1997, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree incorporating the Russian Space Forces and the Space Missile Defence Forces (Russian: Ракетно-космической обороны) into the SMT.[18] In doing so, 'nearly 60' military units and establishments were dissolved. However, four years later, on June 1, 2001, the Russian Space Forces were reformed as a separate branch of service from the SMT.

Minister of Defence Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeev, a former commander of the SMT from August 19, 1992 – May 22, 1997, played a major role in assuring funding for his former service.[6] He was succeed by General of the Army Vladimir Nikolavevich Yakovlev, who commanded the SMT from June 1997 until April 27, 2001. Yakovlev was succeeded by Colonel General Nikolay Solovtsov (ru:Соловцов, Николай Евгеньевич), appointed the same day. In early 2009 Solovtsov said that 96% of all Russian ICBMs are ready to be launched within a minute's notice.[19] Solovtsov was dismissed in turn in July–August 2009. Speculation over why Solovtsov was dismissed includes opposition to further cuts in deployed nuclear ballistic missile warheads below the April 2009 figure of 1,500, the fact that he had reached the retirement age of 60, despite that he had recently been extended another year's service, or the failure of the Navy's Bulava missile).[20] After only a year, Lieutenant General Andrey Shvaichenko, appointed on August 3, 2009 by President Dmitry Medvedev, was replaced himself. The current commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, Lt.-General Sergei Karakayev, was appointed to the post by a presidential decree of June 22, 2010.[1]

[edit] Composition in 2010s

Armed Forces of the
Russian Federation
Medium emblem of the Вооружённые Силы Российской Федерации.svg
Big Emblem of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.jpg
Banner of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (obverse).svg
Ministry of Defence
Services (Vid)
Air Force Russian Air Force
Ground Forces Russian Ground Forces
Navy Russian Navy
Independent troops (Rod)
Ground Forces Strategic Missile Troops
Ground Forces Russian Space Forces
Ground Forces Russian Airborne Troops
Other troops
Naval Infantry
Naval Aviation
Missiles and Artillery Agency
Ranks of the Russian Military
Air Force ranks and insignia
Army ranks and insignia
Navy ranks and insignia
History of the Russian Military
Military History of Russia
History of Russian military ranks
Military ranks of the Soviet Union

According to Globalsecurity.org, the RSVN main command post is at Kuntsevo in the suburbs of Moscow, with the alternate command post at Kosvinksky Mountain in the Urals.[21]

Female cadets have now started to join the Peter the Great Strategic Rocket Forces Academy.[22] SRF institutes also exist at Serpukhov and Rostov-on-Don. An ICBM test impact range is located in the Far East, the Kura Test Range.

The Strategic Rocket Forces operate four distinct missile systems. The oldest system is the silo-based R-36M2 / SS-18 Satan which carrying ten warheads, last missile will be in service till 2020. The second system is the silo-based UR-100NUTTH / SS-19 Stiletto, last 70 missiles is in service with six warheads each and will be removed till 2017. The most numerous missile in service is the single warhead mobile RT-2PM Topol / SS-25 Sickle which have 171 missiles in service, all of them is planned to decommiss till 2019.[23][24] A new missile entering service is the RT-2UTTH Topol-M / SS-27 Sickle B with single warhead, from which is 49 in silo-based and 19 in mobile modification, some new missiles will be add in future. First upgraded Topol-M called RS-24 Yars which carrying three warheads, was commissioned in 2010 and in July 2011 completing of first mobile regiment with 9 missiles was completed.[25]

The composition of missiles and warheads of the Strategic Rocket Forces previously had to be revealed as part of the START I treaty data exchange. The current (December 2010) order of battle of the forces is as follows:[26]

In 2016 is estimated the 31st Rocket Army will be disbanded. The 42nd RD with RT-2PM will be disbanded, and 13th RD with R-36 will be transferred to the 27th GRA. (Podvig)

[edit] Numbers of missiles and warheads

The Strategic Rocket Forces have 377 ICBMs able to deliver 1,279 nuclear warheads.The total arsenal of Russia's SMF comprises 377 ICBMs, including 162 SS-25 Topol (Sickle) missiles ,58 R-36 missile,70 UR-100N,72 SS-27 Topol-M missiles and 15 RS-24 with each missile having 3–4 warheads.Total number is 377 missiles as of January 2012.http://warfare.ru/?sf=true

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Strategic Missile Forces
  1. ^ a b Pavel Podvig, Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, accessed September 2010
  2. ^ Russian: Ракетные войска стратегического назначения Российской Федерации (РВСН РФ), transliteration: Raketnye voyska strategicheskogo naznacheniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii, literally Missile Troops of Strategic Designation of the Russian Federation.
  3. ^ This foundation date is shared with the Russian Space Forces (VKS) by the President of Russian Federation Decree N.1239 dated December 10, 1995
  4. ^ Charles Tuten, Making the (Right) Connections: A Cautionary Account of WMD Intelligence, Running End Ltd, 2005, ISBN 1881625249, 9781881625247, via Google Books.
  5. ^ RVSN – Strategic Rocket Forces – Russian and Soviet Nuclear Forces
  6. ^ a b c d e Mike Holm, Strategic Rocket Forces
  7. ^ National Security Archive, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB14/doc18.htm
  8. ^ [The U.S.S.R.: Moscow's Military Machine The U.S.S.R.: Moscow's Military Machine], TIME Magazine, June 23, 1980
  9. ^ Library of Congress Soviet Union Country Study, 1989
  10. ^ IISS Military Balance 1990–91, p.34
  11. ^ http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/ukraine/forasst/fundukr.htm
  12. ^ Holm, 44th Missile Division
  13. ^ See http://ruzhany.all-up.com/forum-f8/tema-t2.htm. Vyru (Voru) was deployment base for the 305th Regiment of the 23rd Missile Division (from 1982 40th Division) of the 50th Army.
  14. ^ Previously 92 BON, then given the combined-arms designation of 22nd RVGK special-purpose brigade, then 72nd RVGK Engineer Brigade, and in 1960 the 24th Guards Division of the RVSN was formed on its basis. http://www.ww2.dk/new/rvsn/24gvmd.htm
  15. ^ Formed Chita in 1970 from the 8th Independent Missile Corps, under Colonel-General Yury Zabegaylov. Included 45th Missile Division (disbanded 1970).
  16. ^ Activated 5.60 in Nerchinsk, Chita Oblast as the 119th Missile Brigade, from the 116th Artillery Brigade. Initially under the 57th Artillery Range Administration, and from 3.61 the 8th independent Missile Corps. May 1961 renamed the 4th Missile Division. Named Harbinskaya 10.61, from the disbanded 46th Tank Division. 4th Missile Division
  17. ^ 47th Missile Division
  18. ^ Greg Austin and Alexiy D. Muraviev, The Armed Forces of Russia in Asia, Tauris, 2001, p.185-6
  19. ^ Russia can launch ICBMs at minute's notice – missile forces chief | Russia | RIA Novosti
  20. ^ "Russian Missile Chief Fired Amid Speculation". RIA Novosti. August 3, 2009. http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090803/155715537.html. Retrieved September 24, 2009. 
  21. ^ Globalsecurity.org, Strategic C3I Facilities, accessed October 2007, and Jane's Defence Weekly June 25, 1994, p.32, via Austin and Muraviev 2001
  22. ^ http://visualrian.com/images/item/309643
  23. ^ http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/10/topol_might_stay_in_service_un.shtml
  24. ^ http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/11/launch_of_topol_to_confirm_mis.shtml
  25. ^ http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/07/deployment_of_the_first_full_r.shtml
  26. ^ Strategic Rocket Forces – Russian strategic nuclear forces
  27. ^ http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/12/rs-24_deployment_in_teykovo_no.shtml

[edit] Further reading

  • Дороговоз И. Г. Ракетные войска СССР. — Минск: Харвест, 2007. — 336 с. — ISBN 978-985-13-9751-4
  • John G. Hines et al. Soviet Intentions 1965–1985. Braddock Dunn & McDonald (BDM), 1995.
  • Strategic Rocket Forces museum
  • "Владимирская Ракетная Стратегическая" (Vladimirskaya Strategic Missile) by I.V. Vershkov and V.G. Gagarin; Vladimir 2006; 480 pages;
  • "Оренбургская Стратегическая" (Orenburg Strategic) by Y.N. Feoktistov; Perm 2001; 328 pages; (also a 1997 edition).
  • "Читинская Ракетная Армия" (Chitinskaya Missile Army) by ??; Chita, 2002; 268 pages
  • "История 50-й Ракетной Армии I-IV" (History 50th Missile Army, part 1-4) by G.I. Smirnov and A.I. Yasakov; Smolensk 2008; 370+342+387+561 pages
  • "Стратеги" (Strategic) by V.T. Nosov; Moscow, 2008; 276 pages;

[edit] External links

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