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Russia Stops Use of Rail-Based Missiles
Russian Strategic Missile Commander Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov said yesterday that the service’s rail-based missile launchers have all been permanently removed from operation (see GSN, Aug. 4). The last launcher was removed from service Aug. 12. The missiles mounted on the launchers are being destroyed at a storage base in the Perm region, while the launchers are being taken apart at a repair facility in Bryansk. “It is impossible to extend the service life of any type of weapon eternally. That is why, no matter how sorry we are, we have to say goodbye to the rail-based missile launchers,” Solovtsov told Russia’s Interfax-Military News Agency. “It is unacceptable to keep missile systems that have outlived their usefulness in the inventory,” he said. “One must never fool around with nuclear weapons, otherwise there will be a lot of trouble.” “Another reason is the rail-based missile systems were designed and mass-produced in Ukraine. The enterprises that were involved in their development and production now no longer exist,” Solovtsov added. The missile launchers will be replaced through “the commissioning of the new Topol M missile systems, both mobile and silo-based ones,” according to Solovtsov (BBC Monitoring/Interfax Military News Agency, Aug. 15).
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