The Strategic Missile Forces (Strategic Missile Forces) carried out a successful combat training launch of a Yars missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

“At the state test cosmodrome Plesetsk, the crew of the Yoshkar-Ola missile formation carried out a combat training launch of a mobile-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile PGRK Yars, equipped with a multiple warhead.

The training combat units arrived at the designated area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula,” the military department said in a press release.

The Ministry of Defense added that the purpose of the launch was to confirm the tactical, technical and flight characteristics of the modern missile system.

“In preparation for this event, the strategic missile forces worked out the procedure for redeploying the Yars PGRK launch battery to a remote area with preparation and conduct of the launch.

All assigned tasks were completed in full,” the Ministry of Defense emphasized.

Let us recall that in early January the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that in 2024 the Strategic Missile Forces plan to conduct seven launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The department added that over the past five years, Russian troops have conducted more than 20 ICBM launches as part of testing advanced missile systems and training in command and control of armed forces.

Strategic update

The RS-24 Yars is a fifth-generation strategic missile system with a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.

This complex was developed by specialists from the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) to replace the fourth generation Topol mobile complex.

Despite the general external similarity, the Yars complexes differ in characteristics and capabilities from their predecessor, the Ministry of Defense noted earlier.

“The possibilities for using the positional area have increased significantly (it has increased both geographically and qualitatively).

The design features of the Yars make it possible to carry out launches from sites where the Topol could be on duty only after special engineering retrofitting.

The characteristics of communications equipment and the base chassis have improved, and the missile itself has become more powerful and practically invulnerable to the enemy’s existing missile defense.

The combat equipment of the Yars has also changed qualitatively, the Russian military department emphasizes.

  • The Yars complex at the parade in Moscow

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Komsomolskaya Pravda

For a long time, the exact characteristics of the Yars complexes were not published in open sources, but in 2021, some data about the RS-24 was made public as part of a speech by Deputy Minister of Defense Alexei Krivoruchko at a single military acceptance day.

According to these data, the rocket's caliber is 1.86 m, its length is 17.8 m, and its launch weight is 46 tons. The rocket's payload mass is 1.25 tons.

Depending on the load, the RS-24 can hit targets at a distance of 10 thousand to 12 thousand km, the warhead of the missile can carry from four to six thermonuclear warheads with individual guidance.

"Yars" are supplied to the troops both in a mobile version and in a stationary mine-based version.

The Western expert community also drew attention to the Yars complexes and their high potential as strategic weapons.

Thus, the American military-political magazine The National Interest has repeatedly analyzed the capabilities of new Russian missiles, including in the material “Russian Yars ICBMs occupy a central place in strategic missile force exercises.”

“These complexes are difficult to detect, track and destroy, which makes them potentially more survivable than their silo-based counterparts,” the publication noted.

Analysts at The National Interest also stated that the Yars mobile installations are capable of maneuvering and masking the launch position from aerospace detection devices.

In addition, according to the publication, the multiple warheads of the RS-24 Yars complexes are of particular concern in the United States.

“The reference to individually targeted pods appears to be significant because road-mobile ICBM launchers have been a concern for US missile defense planners for some time.

Little information appears to be available about these units, but one missile with several individually targeted units poses a frightening and dynamic threat,” American experts noted.

  • Material from The National Interest “Russian Yars ICBMs take center stage in strategic missile force exercises”

  • © The National Interest

It is worth noting that Yars are being supplied regularly to the Russian Armed Forces.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, at the beginning of January 2024, the mobile group of the Strategic Missile Forces completed rearmament from the Topol mobile ground-based missile systems to the latest Yars.

“The re-equipment of the mobile group of strategic missile forces has been completed by re-equipping the last missile regiment of the Bologovsky missile formation in the Tver region from the Topol PGRK to the Yars,” the Ministry of Defense reported.

At the same time, the defense department clarified that the group still has regiments that are armed with the modern Topol-M mobile complex with sufficient operational life.

The re-equipment of these units with Yars is planned to begin after 2025, the Ministry of Defense specified.

"Plays a central role"

The Yars strategic complexes are today one of the main elements of Russia’s nuclear triad, Mikhail Alexandrov, an expert on military-political issues, Doctor of Political Sciences, noted in a conversation with RT.

“The Yars complex now plays a central role in the ground-based component of Russia’s nuclear triad.

The previous generation “Voevoda” missiles are gradually being withdrawn from service, and the “Sarmat” complexes have just begun to enter service with the troops and be put on duty.

In turn, Yars was created to replace the Topol systems as its more mobile and less vulnerable version.

Mobile installations of these complexes can be dispersed and constantly moved throughout the country, which protects them from defeat by an unexpected pre-emptive strike prescribed in the US nuclear doctrine,” the expert emphasized.

  • Yars complexes on the march

  • RIA News

  • © Vadim Savitsky

The high mobility of the Yars is a guarantee that the strategic forces of the Russian Federation will be able to deliver the necessary strike on selected targets from anywhere, Aleksandrov added.

Maintaining such systems in a state of readiness is especially important in the current geopolitical situation, the analyst noted.

“Such test launches must be carried out to check the reliability of the missiles and demonstrate their performance to all potential opponents of Russia,” said RT’s interlocutor.

Now Russia's strategic forces have achieved not only parity, but also superiority over other nuclear powers, says Mikhail Alexandrov.

“Because the American Minuteman III systems are outdated and it is unknown how many of them are in usable condition.

And we have only recently completed the replacement of the Topol mobile group complexes with the new Yars.

In combination with other elements of nuclear deterrence, this is a very serious argument.

And if Russia decides to resort to nuclear weapons, the enemy will have no chance,” the expert stated.

In turn, the head of the department of political analysis and socio-psychological processes of the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Andrei Koshkin, emphasized that the Yars complexes will significantly increase the effectiveness of Russian strategic troops.

“Improving strategic weapons is extremely important today.

It is no coincidence that Vladimir Putin, in his recent address to the Federal Assembly, specifically drew attention to Russia’s nuclear forces and announced their readiness.

This should greatly sober up the crazy heads in the West, especially in the USA, Great Britain and France.

And in order for the missiles to perform their task as prescribed, of course, appropriate training is needed, launches and exercises are needed.

“All this is going according to plan,” the political scientist concluded.