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Russia’s military carried out a flight test of a new multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile on Monday amid growing tensions with the United States over the crisis in Ukraine. The SS-27 Mod 2 road-mobile ICBM was launched around 2:40 a.m. EST from Russia’s Plesetsk launch facility, located about 500 miles north of Moscow. “The main purpose of the launch is to validate the reliability of a batch of this class of missiles made at the Votkinsk Plant,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov told state-run Interfax-AVN. An unspecified number of simulated nuclear warheads landed at an impact range on the Kura test...

Russia is introducing a fourth generation automated control systems for its Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) with triple-redundant communication links, a media report said. Izvestia newspaper quoting SMF Commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said, the new automated control systems are based on digital alert transmission systems. "The RSVN is currently introducing fourth generation automated control systems. Each system will have guaranteed triple communications redundancy," he was quoted as saying. The strategic nuclear launch systems are ageing hence the importance of command and control links, he added. The Strategic Missile Forces reportedly have a total of 538 ICBMs, including 306 SS-25 Sickle...

Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) has begun its annual training programme with more than 2,000 servicemen taking part in large-scale command-and-staff exercises. "The SMF are conducting command-and-staff drills on March 10-12 in line with the annual training program," military spokesman Col. Vadim Koval said. The SMF will practice operations control in scenarios involving conventional and nuclear warfare under guidelines outlined by Russia's new military doctrine, said a report by Ria Novosti. "A total of more than 2,000 servicemen and 150 theater- and tactical-level command-and-control centers take part in the drills," Koval said. Russia is hopeful of completing the modernization of...

Russia plans to replace most of its older (Cold War era) ICBMs in the next five years. But all of these older missiles will not be retired until 2020. Currently, Russia has 538 ICBMs in service, 71 percent of them the most modern Topols (SS-25 and SS-27). Only 56 are the most modern, Topol-M design. About a dozen of these are the road-mobile versions, that avoid destruction in a first strike, by constantly moving around on the roads 200-300 kilometers northeast of Moscow. The 54 foot long transporter for these 46 ton missiles is a 16 wheel vehicle, using a...

Russia has successfully test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from its northern space-vehicle launching site, Plesetsk. The intercontinental Topol class ballistic missile (CC-25 under Western standards) was launched on Thursday at 1:38 p.m. Moscow time from a mobile launching installation, sources from the northern cosmodrome told ITAR-TASS news agency. The aim of the test was to assure that the exploitation period of the missile could be extended, a Russian space forces’ press-service representative told Regions.ru online daily. The flight of the missile was strictly controlled by Russian space force devices. The launch and the flight of Topol have met all...