RS-24 / SS-27 Mod 2 / Yars-M

The RS-24 Yars (SS-27 Mod 2), introduced into service in July 2010, is an upgraded version of the Topol-M ballistic missile. The ballistic missile can carry multiple independently targetable nuclear warheads, and is designed to evade missile defense systems up to a range of 7,500 miles.

The Russian strategic missile troops would place 16 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers into service in 2014, the troops’ commander Sergey Karakayev said on 14 November 2014. The general said in October 2014 that the troops had received nine launchers, six ballistic missiles for mobile Yars systems and two for stationary systems in 2014 and expected to receive three launchers and eight missiles more until the end of the year. Three regiments were planned to have Yars systems in service by the end of the year.

The deployment of the Yars complexes began in December 2009 after the adoption of the complexStrategic Missile Forces for "experimental combat duty" as part of one missile division of the regimentTeikovskaya 54th Guards Missile Division of the 27th Guards Missile Army of the Strategic Missile Forces(based - Krasnye Sosenki, 3 complexes). November 30, 2010 General Commander of the Strategic Missile ForcesS. Karakaev said that the Strategic Missile Forces will gradually re-equip from mobile complexeswith single-block missiles "Topol-M" to mobile complexes with missiles with MIRVed "Yars".

In December 2010, the second entered service with the Teikovo missile division.division of complexes "Yars" (3 SPU). On March 4, 2011 it was announced that the first missile regimentwith the RS-24 ICBM Yars took up combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces as part of the Teikovo division. INthe composition of the regiment of the Teikovo missile division included 2 missile divisions of the RS-24 ICBM,delivered to the Strategic Missile Forces in 2009-2010. In total, the regiment consists of 6 RS-24 complexes.

On December 19, 2011 it was announced that by the end of 2012 one regiment of the Strategic Missile Forces missile divisionin Pashino (Novosibirsk) will be re-equipped with Yars ICBMs. On 20.11.2012 in the media, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev, said that in December 2012 on the complexes of ICBMs silo-based "Topol-M" will be re-equipped with the sixth regiment of the Tatishchevskaya division of the Strategic Missile Forces, and during 2013 with the Yars and "Topol-M" units of three more divisions (Irkutsk, Novosibirsk andKozelskaya - the last one with the installation of mine versions of the Yars ICBM). Preparing forthe re-education of divisions in Novosibirsk and Kaluga (Kozelskaya) began in 2012.

On August 3, 2011, the third division of the Yars complexes took up combatwatch as part of the Yars complex regiment of the Teikovo missile division. In this way the first full-time three-divisional regiment of the Yars ICBM was formed. September 27, 2011 at the Russian Ministry of Defense, information appeared that by the end of 2011 in Teikovskaya of the Strategic Missile Forces division, the second regiment of the Yars ICBM will take over on combat duty. And finally, December 7, 2011 in the Teikovo missile division, the second was put on experimental combat dutymissile regiment of Yars complexes as part of the regiment's mobile command post and onemissile battalion.

The Armed Forces (AF) of the Russian Federation conducted 10 successful launches of the strategic complex "Yars" in the period from 2012 to 2020. This is stated in the collection "Main results of the activities of the RF Armed Forces in 2012-2020" prepared by the RF Ministry of Defense and available to TASS 23 December 2020. "In the period from 2012 to 2020, 10 successful launches of the Yars strategic missile system (strategic missile complex - note by TASS) were carried out," the document says. with hypersonic gliding winged units "Avangard." According to the document, the speed of the "Avangard" was Mach 28 (7.5 km / s). The collection reported that the number of Yars and Avangard complexes increased in 2012-2020 by 14 times and four times, respectively.

It is claimed to be invulnerable to any missile defense and capable of hitting multiple targets at once. Today the Yars strategic missile system forms the basis of the ground grouping of Russia's nuclear triad. Yars was developed in the 2000s by specialists from the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering (MIT) corporation under the leadership of General Designer Yuri Solomonov on the basis of the Topol-M complex.

Unlike the Topol-M, whose rocket has a monobloc warhead, the Yars has a multiple warhead with individual guidance units of various configurations. The missile has a shortened active section of the trajectory and is equipped with new means of overcoming missile defense. In the RS-24, the designers laid down the characteristics that make it invulnerable at all stages of flight - from launch to hitting the target.

During operation, the rocket is housed in a sealed transport and launch container (TPK), in which a constant temperature and humidity are maintained. Compared to the Topol-M, the Yarsa TPK has a higher level of protection against small arms damage. The warranty period for the operation of the complex was increased by one and a half times, and the introduction of technical solutions and measures for fire protection of equipment increased nuclear safety.

The Yars rocket is universal and can be deployed on mobile and stationary systems. Compared to the Topol-M, the characteristics of the communications equipment and the base chassis have been improved. Yars does not need special engineering preparation of the area. The complex can enter a forest area and disguise itself under tree crowns, if the width and length of the launcher allows you to pass between the trees. And it can be deployed into a combat position in a matter of minutes.

The Yars complex is equipped with a flight mission recalculation system, which allows firing a rocket from a mobile complex from any point of the patrol route and not being tied to pre-assigned launch positions. The rocket division of the mobile version includes three self-propelled launchers of the complex and a mobile command post on a multi-axle cross-country chassis manufactured by the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. To counter possible sabotage, including the use of radiation, chemical and biological weapons, as well as to prepare the route for the Yars, escort vehicles are included in the combat crew. Mobile complexes "Yars" are very difficult to track on the territory of combat patrol, which is approximately equal in area to several European states.

In 2012, the last Topol-M mobile ICBMs were deployed. The process had been going on since 1997-1998 (if we count together with mine-based options). Further, simple arithmetic - the warranty period of storage of modern Topol-M is in no way less than 25 years, and therefore, it began to expire in 2022-2023 for the very first missiles placed in mines [silos]. For the first time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation published information on the missile range and other characteristics of the newest Yars-S mobile ground-based missile system. A slide with the data of the complex was demonstrated during the speech of Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko at the Single Day of Acceptance of Military Products on 29 January 2021. According to the information slide, the caliber of the rocket is 1.86 m and the length is 17.8 m. The launch mass of the rocket is 46 thousand kg, and the payload is 1,250 kg. The range of the weapon model is up to 10,000 km, while the rocket is powered by solid fuel. During the single day of acceptance of military products, the commander of the Barnaul division of the Strategic Missile Forces, Major General Alexander Prokopenkov, said that the rearmament of the compound at Yars-S would be completed by the end of 2021.

Taking into account the development of missile defense systems, the adoption of the Yars complex and its modernized versions will enhance the combat capabilities of the Strategic Missile Forces strike group to overcome anti-missile defense systems and strengthen the nuclear deterrent potential of Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

Behind the training and test launch, which took place on the night of April 11-12 this year from the Kapustin Yar training ground, there is a lot of experimental design work to create a new experimental missile system that will replace the Topol-E. Military expert Dmitry Korneev is sure of this. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the main task of the launch was to test advanced combat equipment. The April launch has become one of the most closed in recent years. The Ministry of Defense limited itself to general phrases and did not even name the type of product that was tested. The creation of warheads for ballistic missiles is a complex and multi-stage process. The block must be designed, a nuclear charge, automation should be developed for it, strength should be ensured when exposed to accelerations and temperatures. Finally, the block must be made and tested. And the tests of secret technology should go unnoticed by prying eyes. And the main range of strategic forces - the aiming field - is the Kura range in Kamchatka. It is monitored and monitored by aircraft and ships of the United States. It is impossible to test such sensitive equipment as new and promising warheads there. The route Kapustin Yar - Sary-Shagan is called by the rocket men the "internal route" - in the sense that it is located in the depths of the country. The only problem is that intercontinental missiles without modifications cannot fly at such a short range. From the Kapustin Yar test site to Sary-Shagan, a little more than 2 thousand km. Whereas ICBMs fly tens of thousands of kilometers. Therefore, special test rockets are used to fire on the "inner track". Their design allows you to fly over a short distance. But at the same time, their warheads enter the atmosphere at the same angle and with the same flight parameters as those of conventional intercontinental missiles flying to the range laid down in their design. As is well lknown, for several years MIT has been conducting its own work on the creation of the Anchar hypersonic guided warhead. Judging by the timing of the creation, by 2023 the project should already enter the final stage of testing, which may be followed by a full-fledged launch at an intercontinental range, for example, by a missile of the Aspen or Yars type from Plesetsk at the Kura test site in Kamchatka. After that, the deployment of new ICBMs in protected silo launchers will probably begin instead of Topol-M.