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Russia to Scrap Railway-Based Missile Launcher This Week, Deploy Several New ICBMs Next Year
Russia yesterday initiated the disposal of one final railway-based missile launcher for the year, Interfax reported (see GSN, Sept. 21). “It is this year’s ninth railway-based missile launcher. Its cannibalization is to be over before the end of the week,” a military spokesman told Interfax. A U.S. inspection team is observing the disposal, as mandated by the START 1 treaty, he said (Interfax I/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 14). Meanwhile, Strategic Missile Troops Commander Col.-Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov yesterday said that Moscow plans to expand its missile arsenal, RIA Novosti reported. “The state arms program envisages the number of launching sites and missiles provided by the (defense) industry to be raised by 10, 12, or 15,” Solovtsov said. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier that he expected six new ICBMs to be deployed next year, according to RIA Novosti. “The main problem now is the funds needed for capital development,” Solovtsov said. “Introducing silo-based and mobile systems requires a lot of investment. This is a serious problem” (RIA Novosti, Nov. 14). Solovtsov also said yesterday that Topol-M missile units would be equipped with new warheads that are being tested, Interfax reported. “In [the] future, the missile forces will have only two types of missile units, the silo-based and vehicle-based Topol-M, on which all newly tested weapons will be mounted,” he said (Interfax II/BBC Monitoring, Nov. 14).
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