The military of the Barnaul missile formation launched autonomous launchers of mobile ground-based missile systems (PGRK) "Yars" on combat patrol routes, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The press service of the department noted that the calculations of the complexes will perform the tasks of completing a march up to 100 km long, dispersing units with a change in field positions, their engineering equipment, organizing camouflage and combat security.

In addition, the rocket men will carry out anti-sabotage measures along the routes of the Yarsov.

"Planned activities allow you to check the readiness of personnel, as well as weapons and military equipment for long-term duty on combat patrol routes," the Defense Ministry said.

"Weapons of a new generation"

Recall that the Yars systems belong to the fifth generation strategic missile systems.

They are designed to replace the fourth-generation Topol mobile complex.

The Yars PGRK was developed by specialists from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT), where another nuclear weapon carrier, the Bulava missile, was created.

MIT notes that these two missile systems "embodied all the best that has been accumulated by the experience of the work" of the institute.

“These complexes contain a number of new original design solutions, which gives reason to consider them weapons of a new generation.

Mobile ground systems with ballistic missiles, which have been on combat duty in the armed forces for a long time, are unsurpassed in their tactical and technical characteristics among similar systems, and many of them have no analogues in world practice at all, ”the MIT website says.

  • Rocket launch of the Yars complex

  • RIA News

  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The Yars complex was put into service in 2009, and a year later it entered combat duty.

In subsequent years, the Ministry of Defense carried out the re-equipment of the Strategic Missile Forces units with PGRK data.

As reported in the defense department in early January, in 2023 the strategic missile forces as a whole will complete the re-equipment of the mobile group with the Yars complexes.

It is worth noting that the "Yars" enter the troops both in the mobile version and in the stationary silo-based version.

In the mobile version, the complex on marches is accompanied by special equipment - command posts, combat duty, engineering support and camouflage vehicles, Typhoon-M combat anti-sabotage armored vehicles and remote demining vehicles.

As the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakaev, noted in 2017, one of the main advantages of the Yars mobile systems is their increased survivability compared to the previous generation PGRK.

“One of the main properties of the mobile-based Yars missile system is survivability, which is achieved by creating an uncertainty in the location of the launcher.

After all, without reliable data on the location of an object, it is impossible to deliver an aimed strike at it.

Compared with the previous Topol complex of the same type, the survivability of the Yars complex has been increased several times.

And this is not the only advantage of Yars, this complex has greater security, stability of the control system and is less visible to the technical means of reconnaissance, ”he said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper.

The Yarsov launchers are equipped with the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 11,000–12,000 km.

According to the Zvezda weekly, the warhead of an ICBM weighs about 1.3 tons and consists of three to four warheads with a capacity of about 300 kt each.

In turn, the Zvezda TV channel reported that in the future it is possible to use a version of the rocket with six blocks of 150 kt each.

According to Sergei Karakaev, the RS-24 missile has implemented technical solutions that make it possible to increase the effectiveness of overcoming missile defense systems.

“The Yars missile system uses a missile whose design incorporates technical solutions that make it possible to significantly increase the efficiency of overcoming existing and future anti-missile defense systems.

The missile can be equipped with warheads of various types with a variety of anti-missile defense systems, ”the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces noted.

In particular, according to TC Zvezda, the set of anti-missile defense systems installed on the RS-24 includes active and passive decoys, means of distorting the characteristics of warheads.

The website of the Ministry of Defense also states that the Yarsa is distinguished by a much shorter booster flight section than that of previous generations of missiles.

The RS-24 also stands out for its robust and lightweight design, powerful engines and controls that can operate under significant overloads.

The materials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation noted that the Yars PGRK, along with the modernized Topol-M complexes, would form the basis of the Russian grouping of the Strategic Missile Forces.

  • Complex "Yars"

  • RIA News

  • © Maxim Blinov

"Freedom of maneuver and high survivability"

According to analysts, the Yars PGRK has a number of advantages over previous generations of missile systems.

"Yars" fly further, their accuracy is higher, but most importantly, they have a shorter accelerating flight section.

This is important, because it is in the upper stage that intercontinental ballistic missiles are most vulnerable to anti-missile systems.

An accelerated acceleration section reduces the effectiveness of the enemy’s missile defense or even reduces it to zero, ”said Alexei Podberezkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Research, in a conversation with RT.

In turn, a retired colonel, director of the air defense museum in Balashikha, Yuri Knutov, called one of the main advantages of the Yars complexes their ability to change their location.

“Mobility increases the survivability of missile systems.

The location of the silo-based missiles is known to the enemy.

Their safety is ensured by equipping mines with protection systems.

But in some cases, stationary launchers can still fail as a result of a high-power charge hitting them.

The mobile complex, on the other hand, has the ability to go into areas unknown to the enemy and, on the first command, launch missiles at targets from there, ”the interlocutor of RT explained.

A similar opinion is shared by Alexei Podberezkin.

“Mobility is an effective way to increase the survivability of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the expert stated.

Yuri Knutov believes that such mobile complexes as Yars are today one of the key elements of nuclear deterrence.

“This is an important part of Russia's nuclear shield.

The enemy understands that if he delivers a nuclear strike, then the answer is inevitable, including thanks to the Yars complexes, which can strike from various points and have freedom of maneuver and high survivability, ”concluded the specialist.