- MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - This
week the Strategic Missile Forces are going to launch two intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the SMF press service said.
-
- According to the press service, Russian Missile Forces
Commander Nikolai Solovtsov will preside over both launches.
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- The missile division deployed in the Orenburg region,
which launched a missile for the last time in 1991, will launch a combat-training
version of the RS-20V Voyevoda (NATO codename SS 18 Satan).
-
- "This Voyevoda launch will be the first in a series
of planned events. It will also be another step in fulfilling the President's
task of making as much use as possible of the technological potential of
missile systems by extending their service life beyond the producer warranty
life," the Strategic Missile Force spokesman said.
-
- The combat training launch will not be the only one this
week, as the Topol M, a fifth-generation ICBM, will be launched at Plesetsk
Space Center from a state-of-the-art mobile launcher.
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- Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and Economic Development
and Trade Minister German Gref are expected to attend the launch at the
space center.
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- The Topol M mobile missile system is world-unique and
much superior in its combat performance to its predecessor Topol. Silo-based
and mobile Topol Ms will make up the core of Russia's missile force for
many years to come.
-
- According to open press, the Russian Strategic Missile
Force operates silo-based Topol M systems. In the future, mobile launchers
will become operational along with silo-based ones. The first stationary
Topol M RS-12s (NATO codename SS-X27) entered the Russian inventory in
1997.
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- According to official data, each of the four currently
active missile regiments armed with the Topol Ms operates six to ten intercontinental
ballistic missiles.
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- The Topol M has the following characteristics: length
(incl. warhead) - 22.7 meters, diameter - 1.95 meters, takeoff weight -
47.2 tons, payload - 1.2 tons, operational range - over 10,000 kilometers.
It has three engines, which enable the vehicle to supercede the cruising
speed of all previously made peers.
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- The RS-20 Voyevoda (the Satan) has a takeoff weight of
about 211 tons, a length of around 34 meters, and an operational range
of over 10,000 kilometers with the independent inertial navigation system.
The 8.8-ton warhead includes ten independently targetable re-entry vehicles
whose total power is equal to 1,200 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. A single missile
can totally eliminate 500 square kilometers of enemy defenses.
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