Strategic Rocket Forces (RVSN): Discussion & News

I stand corrected then

Since 2012, the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) have received more than 70 combat anti-sabotage vehicles BPDM "Typhoon-M". In 2021, the delivery of this equipment continues.
The Typhoon-M BPDM was developed in the interests of the Strategic Missile Forces on the basis of the BTR-82 armored personnel carrier. It is designed to conduct reconnaissance in positional areas in the radar, optical and infrared wave ranges, as well as to combat sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

The uniqueness of this machine lies in its equipment with a complex of reconnaissance means, including an unmanned aerial vehicle. "Typhoon-M" has the ability to detect the enemy at a range of up to five kilometers.

Along with the BPDM, the troops receive a unique simulator for training the personnel of the security and intelligence units in its use, which allows them to find sabotage groups in the invisibility zones of optoelectronic and radio-electronic means.

Thanks to its versatility, the simulator makes it possible to train the entire Typhoon-M crew - from the driver mechanic to the shooter of the remotely controlled weapons platform.

https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12392514@egNews

The RVSN has trained more than 6 thousand specialists in training centers and the school of technicians in a year

More than 6 thousand servicemen were trained in the training centers of the Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) according to the training programs for junior military specialists.

Every year, the number of graduates trained in new specialties introduced in connection with the renewal of weapons and military equipment increases among them, namely: operators of security alarm equipment and specialists in the operation and maintenance of engineering support and camouflage machines. In the Interspecific regional Training Center of the RVSN (Pskov region), sappers and operators were trained for the crews of the remote mine clearance vehicle "Foliage".

The training of cadets took place both on real cars at the racetrack, and on modern training systems that fully simulate the actions of crews and equipment.

At the end of October, about 3,000 cadets of the RVSN training centers passed the final exams for training programs for junior military specialists. Graduates of the training center in November will be delivered to formations and military units for further service in a special military echelon.

Currently, the training of military personnel for the Strategic Missile Forces is carried out in three training centers stationed in Pereslavl-Zalessky (Yaroslavl region), Ostrov (Pskov region) and the school of technicians in Kapustin Yar (Astrakhan region).

For each period of training, the command and teaching staff of the RVSN training centers train specialists of power supply systems and protection of mobile and stationary missile systems, drivers, mechanics-drivers of all types of armored vehicles and engineering equipment in service with the RVSN, as well as junior military specialists in the operation and repair of communication systems.

For the organization of high-quality training of junior specialists in training military units, all the necessary educational and material base has been created. To train cadets in 26 military accounting specialties, there are more than 150 specialized classes in the RVSN training network, equipped with split and operating models of components and assemblies of weapons in service with missile formations and parts.

The Strategic Missile Forces continues to work purposefully to improve the system of training junior military specialists.

NOTE: each draft the Strategic Missile Forces receives 8,000 conscripts or 16,000 per year. This means that the 50,000 staff Strategic Missile Forces would be almost 1/3 conscripts. As per the article out of 8,000 conscripts, 3,000 will receive specialized training at the 3 junior military specialists training center generally of 4 months duration.

https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12392496@egNews

We do not have a dedicated rocket force here in the U.S. So I'm curious.

What are the various types of missiles, rockets that make up Russia's Rocket Force? Does it only consist of offensive weapons or does it also consist of EW systems and SAMs like S-400 and S-500?

RTN wrote:We do not have a dedicated rocket force here in the U.S. So I'm curious.

What are the various types of missiles, rockets that make up Russia's Rocket Force? Does it only consist of offensive weapons or does it also consist of EW systems and SAMs like S-400 and S-500?

1 - "We do not have a dedicated rocket force here in the U.S. So I'm curious." The US rocket forces are part of the USAF and are called the Global Strike Command (includes the Strategic bombers) which reports to United States Strategic (Joint) Command (includes the naval SSBN's and Early Warning Systems). In Russia the Strategic missiles (ICBM) belong to the independent Strategic Rocket Forces, while the Strategic bombers belong to the Long Range Bomber Command of the Russian Aerospace Forces, naval SSBN's to the Nuclear Submarine Command of the Russian Navy and the Early Warning Systems belong to the Space Command of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

2 - "Does it only consist of offensive weapons or does it also consist of EW systems and SAMs like S-400 and S-500?" No air defense missiles in the Strategic Rocket Forces but does employee some EW and laser defense weapons.  

3- "What are the various types of missiles, rockets that make up Russia's Rocket Force?"

- R-36M2 (SS-18) planned phased out
- Avangard (SS-19 Mod 4) SS-19 system no longer operational but late model versions being used to launch the new Avangard into orbit
- Topol (SS-25) almost phased out
- Topol-M silo (SS-27)
- Topol-M mobile (SS-27)
- Yars RS-24 mobile
- Yars RS-24 silo

Yeah, that's correct, rocket forces here in the U.S is handled by the US Air Force unlike what it is in Russia or China.

franco wrote:- R-36M2 (SS-18) planned phased out
- Avangard (SS-19 Mod 4) SS-19 system no longer operational but late model versions being used to launch the new Avangard into orbit
- Topol (SS-25) almost phased out
- Topol-M silo (SS-27)
- Topol-M mobile (SS-27)
- Yars RS-24 mobile
- Yars RS-24 silo

So Russia's rocket force only handles the country's nuclear weapons right? Or do they also have non conventional ballistic and cruise missiles like the Chinese?

RTN wrote:
So Russia's rocket force only handles the country's nuclear weapons right? Or do they also have non conventional ballistic and cruise missiles like the Chinese?

Russia's rocket force control the land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Only nuclear ICBM's and now the space glider Avangard which is launched into space by a ICBM.

The non conventional ballistic and cruise missiles belong to the Ground Forces (army) Rocket brigades.

franco wrote:Only nuclear ICBM's and now the space glider Avangard which is launched into space by a ICBM.

The non conventional ballistic and cruise missiles belong to the Ground Forces (army) Rocket brigades.

India's coming Rocket Force will be a conventional missile force. Much to learn from the Russian Army's rocket brigade regarding the type of missiles they are using.

For instance, one major shortcoming for India is that in case of a war with China, targets as far as 2000 kms away will have to be prosecuted. But currently India doesn't have any such missile (similar to the USSR's RK-55 for instance).

BRAHMOS can hit target up to 300 kms but the 200 kg warhead also make it ill-suited for attacking large area targets.

https://thediplomat.com/2021/11/indias-coming-rocket-force/

The Russian forces until recently were limited to a range of 500 kms per treaty so the range of 500-5,000 was out of bounds. You might need to look elsewhere.

Since the end of the INF treaty the US is developing medium and intermediate range ballistic weapons MRBM and IRBM... with ranges of between 500km and 5,500km (less than 500km are considered short range ballistic missiles and beyond 5,000km is Intercontinental BMs.. ICBMs of course.

Of course an important feature now is that an air breathing missile could have the range and speed of a rocket powered ballistic weapon in a much smaller and lighter package and because it would essentially fly inside the atmosphere on the way to the target it would be much harder to stop and deal with.

An Iskander with an extra solid rocket stage or an ICBM or SLBM with one stage removed would be the quickest easiest cheapest way of getting an IRBM into service quickly, but some sort of from scratch custom designed model would make more sense in terms of size and weight and performance..

GarryB wrote:Since the end of the INF treaty the US is developing medium and intermediate range ballistic weapons MRBM and IRBM... with ranges of between 500km and 5,500km (less than 500km are considered short range ballistic missiles and beyond 5,000km is Intercontinental BMs..  ICBMs of course.

Will these missiles be used to carry out a conventional strike or will they be used to launch a nuclear attack only?

In any case a U.S MRBM or IRBM launch will be picked up by Russian early warning systems and it will be judged as a nuclear missile. This is because the technology to definitively distinguish between incoming nuclear and conventional warheads does NOT exist anywhere in the world.

GarryB wrote:Of course an important feature now is that an air breathing missile could have the range and speed of a rocket powered ballistic weapon in a much smaller and lighter package and because it would essentially fly inside the atmosphere on the way to the target it would be much harder to stop and deal with.

Cruise missiles as battlefield weapons are much effective than tactical ballistic missiles. Russia should increase its arsenal of cruise missiles.

Strategic missile men celebrate 62 years today.

Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Petr Dubrov from orbit congratulated strategic missilemen on the 62nd anniversary of the formation of the troops.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. Over 20 launchers with Yars, Avangard and Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will go on combat alert in Russia’s Strategic Missile Force next year, Russian Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry’s enlarged board meeting on Tuesday.

https://tass.com/defense/1378707

Will these missiles be used to carry out a conventional strike or will they be used to launch a nuclear attack only?

With the precision of terminal guidance systems they can use I would expect a range of warhead types depending on the target and the mission.

A WWII bomber force of 1,000 planes each carrying 2 tons of bombs or more might drop their entire load trying to hit one factory situated in a German town, but might need repeat attacks over several nights to try to hit the target.

With a modern missile or guided bomb they would only need one weapon to get the job done.

In the 1980s an SS-N-21, called Granat by the soviets had only inertial guidance so the CEP was something like 250m, which meant it could not use a 400kg HE warhead to destroy a target.... it needed a nuclear warhead.

Current missiles can be accurate enough that a nuclear warhead is not needed... for instance a HATO SAM installation, your missile might be directed at the tracking or search radars or the command buildings, which when hit make the entire SAM system useless.

Of course these days with US forces in Eastern European countries Russia might decide that rather than pinprick surgical strikes they might want a sledge hammer to send a message so a powerful nuclear device might be launched to destroy the target and also a significant area of terrain around that target too.

START refers to strategic weapons so intermediate and medium as well as short range nuclear weapons are not included, so the withdrawal by the US of the INF treaty means Russia can now point all of its strategic missiles at the US and develop shorter range weapons for Europe and Japan and the Middle East etc.

It will allow them to get a much better coverage of targets in the US and Europe.

It also creates the opportunity for Russia to attack a target and destroy it without potentially starting a nuclear war.

A HATO supported Ukrainian attack on Russia itself might result in a hypersonic missile attack with a conventional warhead on an HQ in Brussels for instance... if they want to respond with nuclear weapons, well Russia is in a much better position to shoot down their weapon than they are of shooting down Russias missiles.

In any case a U.S MRBM or IRBM launch will be picked up by Russian early warning systems and it will be judged as a nuclear missile. This is because the technology to definitively distinguish between incoming nuclear and conventional warheads does NOT exist anywhere in the world.

A conventional or nuclear attack on Russia will lead to a response that may not wait for the incoming missile to explode so the may have no idea of what sort of warhead it had.

Cruise missiles as battlefield weapons are much effective than tactical ballistic missiles. Russia should increase its arsenal of cruise missiles.

Well it is interesting. The new cruise missiles might replace turbofan engines with scramjet engines and instead of hugging the terrain to stay hidden from ground based radar they might fly very high above the effective altitude of HATO SAMs and AAMs, and use manouvering to evade interception...

Ie replace stealth with speed.

They will certainly develop both and both will likely be a good combination that makes defence more difficult and more expensive...

Plans ispytatelnyi launches strategic missile forces in 2022:
5 test launches 15А28 "Sarmat" (Plesetsk)
1 start to confirm 15А35-71 Avangard (Yasnyi)
1 batch start "YARS" (Plesetsk)
1 test launch of "Osina-RV" (Plesetsk)
1 test launch of "Topol-ME" (KapYar)
1 test launch of "Sirena-M" (Plesetsk)

https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022191055-ajb1d.html

I know about others but what​ does Osina-RV do?

Follow-on for Bulava?

Topol-ME... export version?

PapaDragon wrote:
I know about others but what​ does Osina-RV do?

https://www.deagel.com/Offensive%20Weapons/Osina-RV/a004141

The Osina-RV, also known as 15P182, is a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) derived from the Yars-M system and intended as their replacement within the Russian Strategic Missile Forces. There is no substantial information about the new missile characteristics but some connection with hypersonic technologies can be assumed as default. The development of the Osina-RV started in 2019 and the first test launch was expected by August 2021 but finally has been scheduled within 2022.

Scorpius wrote:Plans ispytatelnyi launches strategic missile forces in 2022:
5 test launches 15А28 "Sarmat" (Plesetsk)
1 start to confirm 15А35-71 Avangard (Yasnyi)
1 batch start "YARS" (Plesetsk)
1 test launch of "Osina-RV" (Plesetsk)
1 test launch of "Topol-ME" (KapYar)
1 test launch of "Sirena-M" (Plesetsk)

https://tvzvezda.ru/news/2022191055-ajb1d.html

What is this Sirena-M?

owais.usmani wrote:

What is this Sirena-M?

The 15Y75 "Sirena" of the 15E601 "Perimeter-RC" command missile system (in Western countries, it is known as the "Dead Hand" system) was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT) on the basis of the RS-12 M "Topol" intercontinental ballistic missile system in the late 1980s.

The purpose of the Perimeter-RC system is to transmit an order for the use of nuclear weapons to command posts of units and formations of the Strategic Missile Forces and other types of strategic nuclear forces, launchers and nuclear missile submarines. The system is supposed to be used as an alternative channel for transmitting orders in case of disruption of normal communications. By order of the relevant command, a rocket is launched, which, while flying over the territory of the country, broadcasts the corresponding code signals. In part of the sources, it is reported that in order to ensure the guaranteed fulfillment of its task, the system is fully automatic.

The complex with command missiles includes the same set of units and installations as the complex with the Topol ICBM:

autonomous launcher 15U168 on the MAZ-7917 chassis with a rocket in a transport and launch container with a mortar launch.
other means of the missile system are similar in composition and purpose to the means of the mobile version of the Topol ICBM.
The design of the rocket is identical to the design of the RS-12 M Topol rocket, but the degree of payload removal is presumably similar to the stage of payload removal of the experimental Topol-E ICBM to ensure a more gentle flight path of the command rocket.

Tactical and technical characteristics of the Sirena missile system

The length of the rocket is up to 21 m
The diameter of the TPC is 2.0 m
The diameter of the 1st stage is 1.8 m
The diameter of the 2nd stage is 1.55 m
The diameter of the 3rd stage is 1.34 m

The mass of the rocket is no more than 45,000 kg
The mass of combat units is presumably 1200 kg.

Range - 9000-10000 km

Preparation time for launch - no more than 2 minutes

It is logical to assume that the "Sirena-M" is the designation for the upgraded version of the Doomsday rocket.

Large-scale exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Ivanovo region