The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF; ) is a separate combat arm of the

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military of Russia. They are organized into three service branches—the Russian Ground Forces, Ground Forces, Russian Navy, Navy, and Russi ...

that controls Russia's land-based

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s (ICBMs). It was formerly part of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

from 1959 to 1991. The Strategic Rocket Forces was created on 17 December 1959 as part of the

as the main force for operating all Soviet nuclear ground-based intercontinental,

intermediate-range ballistic missile An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range between (), categorized between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ball ...

, and

medium-range ballistic missile A medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) is a type of ballistic missile with medium range (aeronautics), range, this last classification depending on the standards of certain organizations. Within the United States Department of Defense, U.S. D ...

with ranges over 1,000 kilometers. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, assets of the Strategic Rocket Forces were in the territories of several new states in addition to Russia, with armed nuclear missile silos in Belarus, Kazakhstan and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The three of them transferred their missiles to Russia for dismantling and they all joined the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

. Complementary strategic forces within Russia include the

Russian Aerospace Forces The Russian Aerospace Forces or Russian Air and Space Forces (VKS) comprise the air force, aerial, space force, space warfare, and Missile defense, missile defence Military branch, branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was ...

' Long Range Aviation and the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. These submarines became a major weapon system in the Cold War because of their nuclear deterrence capabi ...

s. Together the three bodies form Russia's nuclear triad.

History

The first Soviet rocket study unit was established in June 1946, by redesignating the 92nd Guards Mortar Regiment at Bad Berka in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

as the 22nd Brigade for Special Use of the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK () or RGK ( comprises reserve military formations and units; the ''Stavka'' ...

. On October 18, 1947, the brigade conducted the first launch of the remanufactured former German A-4 ballistic missile, or R-1, from the

Kapustin Yar Kapustin Yar () is a Russian military training area and a rocket launch complex in Astrakhan Oblast, about 100 km east of Volgograd. It was established by the Soviet Union on 13 May 1946. In the beginning, Kapustin Yar used technology, material ...

Range. In the early 1950s the 77th and 90th Brigades were formed to operate the R-1 (SS-1a 'Scunner'). The 54th and 56th Brigades were formed to conduct test launches of the R-2 (SS-2 'Sibling') at Kapustin Yar on June 1, 1952. The 5th Scientific Research Proving Ground was established in 1955 in Kzyl-Orda Oblast at the town of Zarya later Leninsk, and finally in 1995

Baikonur Baikonur ( ; ) is a city in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave until 2050. It was constructed to serve the Baikonur Cosmodrome with adminis ...

. Also established that year was the 43rd Independent Scientific Experimental Station ( Klyuchi,

Kamchatka Krai Kamchatka Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), situated in the Russian Far East. It is administratively part of the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center and largest types of inhabited l ...

) as an outstation of the Baikonur test site. Two years later "Object Angara" was formed at Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, which after another name change in 1959 eventually became the 53rd Scientific Research Proving Ground in 1963. From 1959 the Soviets introduced a number of

s (ICBMs) into service, including the R-12 (SS-4 'Sandal'), the R-7 (SS-6 'Sapwood'), the R-16 (SS-7 'Saddler'), the R-9 (SS-8 'Sasin'), the R-26 (given the NATO reporting name SS-8 'Sasin' due to incorrect identification as the R-9), the R-36 (SS-9 'Scarp'), and the RT-21 (SS-16 'Sinner'), which was possibly never made fully operational. By 1990 all early types of missiles had been retired from service. In 1990, the Strategic Missile Forces were officially established as a service branch of the Armed Forces under the direct control of the Defense Ministry. The date of its formal foundation, December 17, is celebrated as Strategic Missile Forces Day. Two rocket armies were formed in 1960. The 43rd Rocket Army and the 50th Rocket Army were formed from the previous 43rd and 50th Air Armies of the Long Range Aviation. During a test of the R-16 ICBM on October 24, 1960, the test missile exploded on the pad, killing the first commander of the SRF, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. This disaster, the details of which were concealed for decades, became known as the Nedelin catastrophe. He was succeeded by

Marshal of the Soviet Union Marshal of the Soviet Union (, ) was the second-highest military rank of the Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin wore the uniform and insignia of Marshal after World War II. The rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union was created in 1935 and abolished in ...

Kirill Moskalenko who was in turn quickly succeeded by Marshal Sergey Biryuzov. Under Marshal Вiryuzov the SRF deployed missiles to Cuba in 1962 as part of Operation Anadyr. 36 R-12 intermediate range ballistic missiles were sent to Cuba, initiating the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

. The 43rd Guards Missile Division of 43rd Rocket Army manned the missiles while in Cuba. Marshal Nikolai Krylov took over in March 1963 and served until February 1972. During this time French President

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

visited the Strategic Missile Forces in 1966. Together with NI Krylov, he visited a missile division in Novosibirsk, and then at the invitation of Leonid Brezhnev participated in a demonstration missile launch at the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

in the Kazakh SSR. Chief Marshal of Artillery Vladimir Fedorovich Tolubko commanded the SRF from April 12, 1972, to July 10, 1985. Tolubko emphasised raising the physical fitness standards within the SRF and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Strategic Rocket Forces began to field the new UR-100 (SS-11 'Sego') and UR-100N (SS-19 'Stilleto') ICBMs beginning with the 43rd Rocket Army in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

, providing them with longer range and more accurate missiles. He was succeeded by General of the Army Yury Pavlovich Maksimov, who was in command from July 10, 1985, to August 19, 1992. According to a 1980

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

article citing analysts from

RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

, Soviet non-Slavs were generally barred from joining the Strategic Missile Forces because of suspicions about the loyalty of ethnic minorities to the state. Those who served in the Strategic Rocket Forces had better quality of living, food and also higher salaries than the ones paid to those serving in the Soviet Army. The majority of new recruits has, since its inception, consisted of mainly college and university graduates. In 1989 the Strategic Missile Forces had over 1,400 ICBMs, 300 launch control centers, and twenty-eight missile bases. The SMT operated RSD-10 (SS-20 'Saber') intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and R-12 (SS-4 'Sandal') medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Two-thirds of the road-mobile Soviet RSD-10 force was based in the western Soviet Union and was aimed at Western Europe. One-third of the force was located east of the Ural Mountains and was targeted primarily against China. Older R-12 missiles were deployed at fixed sites in the western Soviet Union. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in December 1987, called for the elimination of all 553 Soviet RSD-10 and R-12 missiles within three years. As of mid-1989, over 50% of RSD-10 and R-12 missiles had been eliminated. By 1990 the Soviet Union had seven types of operational ICBMs. About 50% were heavy R-36M (SS-18 'Satan') and UR-100N (SS-19 'Stiletto') ICBMs, which carried 80% of the country's land-based ICBM warheads. By this time it was producing new mobile, and hence survivable ICBMs, the RT-23 (SS-24 'Scalpel') and

RT-2PM The RT-2PM Topol (; NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle; GRAU, GRAU designation: 15Ж58 ("15Zh58"); START I designation: RS-12M Topol) was a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the Soviet Union and in service with Russia's Strategic ...

(SS-25 'Sickle').IISS Military Balance 1990–91, p.34 In 1990, with the R-12 apparently fully retired, the IISS reported that there were 350

UR-100 The UR-100 () was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed and deployed by the Soviet Union from 1966 to 1996. UR () in its designation stood for Universal Rocket (). It was known during the Cold War by the NATO reporting name SS- ...

s (SS-11 'Sego,' Mod 2/3), 60 RT-2s (SS-13 'Savage') still in service in one missile field, 75 UR-100MRs (SS-17 'Spanker,' Mod 3, with 4 MIRV), 308 R-36Ms (mostly Mod 4 with 10 MIRV), 320 UR-100Ns (mostly Mod 3 with 6 MIRV), some 60 RT-23s (silo and rail-mobile), and some 225 RT-2PMs (mobile). Composition of the Strategic Missile Forces 1960–1991 RSVN training establishments included: *the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces in Moscow; *the Military Engineering Red Banner Institute imeni A.F. Mozhayskiy (VIKI) in Leningrad; *the Kharkov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces imeni Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov *the Krasnodar Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces (KVVKIU) (1982–1998) *the Perm Higher Military Command Engineering Red Banner School Missile Forces ( :ru:Пермский военный институт ракетных войск) *the Riga Higher Military Political Red Banner School imeni Marshal of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov (under the SRF from 1959 to 1993) *the Rostov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces (RVVKIU) (1959 onwards) *the Saratov Higher Military Command and Engineering School of Missile Forces (1959–2003 & 2024 onwards) *the Serpukhov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces imeni Leninskiy Komsomol (SVVKU)

Post Soviet Union

Like most of the Russian Armed Forces, the Strategic Missile Forces had limited access to resources for new equipment in the Yeltsin era. However, the Russian government made a priority of ensuring that the Missile Forces received new missiles to phase out older, less-reliable systems, and to incorporate newer capabilities in the face of international threats to the viability of the nuclear deterrent effect provided by their missiles. In particular the development of missile defense systems in the United States. In 1995, the "Strategic Missile Forces Day" and "Military Space Forces Day" were created. On July 16, 1997, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree incorporating the Russian Space Forces and the Space Missile Defence Forces (Russian: Ракетно-космической обороны) into the SMT. In doing so, 'nearly 60' military units and establishments were dissolved. However, four years later, on June 1, 2001, the Russian Space Forces were reformed as a separate branch of service from the SMT.

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Sergeev, a former commander of the SMT from August 19, 1992 – May 22, 1997, played a major role in assuring funding for his former service.Mike Holm
Strategic Missile Forces
He was succeeded by General of the Army Vladimir Yakovlev, who commanded the SMT from June 1997 until April 27, 2001. Yakovlev was succeeded by

Colonel General Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

Nikolay Solovtsov. In the early 2000s, Chief of the General Staff Army General Anatoly Kvashnin decided to downgrade the status of the Strategic Missile Forces from a branch of the armed forces to an independent combat arm. This was completed despite the opposition of Defense Minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev. Solovtsov was dismissed in July–August 2009. Speculation over why Solovtsov was dismissed included opposition to further cuts in deployed nuclear ballistic missile warheads below the April 2009 figure of 1,500, the fact that he had reached the retirement age of 60, despite that he had recently been extended another year's service, or the failure of the Navy's Bulava missile). After only a year,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Andrey Shvaichenko, appointed on August 3, 2009, by President

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

, was replaced. The current commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergey Karakayev, was appointed to the post by a presidential decree of June 22, 2010.Pavel Podvig
Russian Strategic Missile Forces
, accessed September 2010 The RVSN headquarters has a special sledgehammer that can be used to gain access to the launch codes if the commander feels the need to use it or if ordered directly, but does not have normal access to the safe. In 2020, the Strategic Missile Forces completed switching to digital information transmission technology.

Composition since 2010s

The main RVSN command post is at Kuntsevo in the suburbs of Moscow. The alternate command post is at Kosvinsky Mountain in the

Urals The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

. Female cadets have started to join the Peter the Great Strategic Missile Forces Academy. In the past, only men were allowed to serve in the Missile Forces. RVSN institutes also exist at

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲerpʊxəf) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka River, Oka and the Nara (Oka), Nara Rivers, 99 kilometers (62 miles) south fro ...

and Rostov-on-Don. An ICBM test impact range is located in the Far East, the Kura Test Range. This has been under Aerospace Defence Forces' command since 2010. The Strategic Missile Forces operate four distinct missile systems. The oldest system is the silo-based R-36M2 / SS-18 ''Satan''. It carries ten warheads. The last missile will be in service until 2020. The second system is the silo-based UR-100NUTTH / SS-19 ''Stiletto''. The last ''Stiletto'' missiles in service with six warheads each will be removed by 2019. Two UR-100NUTTH missiles are still believed to be active with Avangard HGVs as of 2024. A new missile entering service is the RT-2UTTH Topol-M / SS-27 ''Sickle B'' with single warhead, of which 60 are silo-based and 18 are mobile. Some new missiles will be added in the future. The first upgraded Topol-M called RS-24 Yars, carrying three warheads, was commissioned in 2010. In July 2011 the first mobile regiment with nine missiles was completed. From 2012 to 2017, about 80 ICBMs were placed in active duty. The RF Defense Minister said in December 2022 that 91.3% of the country's nuclear forces was modern. 3 missile regiments rearmed in 2023. According to the RF MoD, the new super-heavy ICBM RS-28 Sarmat has entered service, it's designed to replace the aging R-36. A new IRBM named Oreshnik was launched at Dnipro, Ukraine in 2024.

Units

The composition of missiles and warheads of the Strategic Missile Forces previously had to be revealed as part of the

START I START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 De ...

treaty data exchange. The most recently reported (January 2020) order of battle of the forces was as follows: * 27th Guards Rocket Army (Military Unit No. 43176) (HQ: Vladimir) ** 98th Mixed Aviation Squadron ** 7th Guards Rocket Division (Military Unit No. 14245) at Vypolzovo with 18+ mobile RS-24 Yars ** 14th Rocket Division (Military Unit No. 34096) at Yoshkar-Ola with 27 mobile RS-24 Yars ** 28th Guards Rocket Division (Military Unit No. 54055) at

Kozelsk Kozelsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Kozelsky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Zhizdra (river), Zhizdra River (a tributary of the Oka (river), Oka), southwest of Kaluga ...

with 19 (December 2023) silo-based RS-24 ** 54th Guards Rocket Division (Military Unit No. 34048) at Teykovo with 18 mobile RT-2UTTH Topol-M and 18 (December 2011) mobile RS-24 ** 60th Rocket Division (Military Unit No. 89553) at Tatischevo with 30 silo-based UR-100NUTTH and 60 silo-based RT-2UTTH Topol-M * 31st Rocket Army (HQ: Orenburg) ** 102nd Mixed Aviation Squadron ** 8th Rocket Division at Pervomaysky, Kirov Oblast ** 13th Red Banner Rocket Division at Dombarovskiy with 18 silo-based R-36M2 and 11 (December 2023) UR-100NUTTH with Avangard (hypersonic glide vehicle)s (''Project 4202''). The R-36s will be replaced with the new RS-28 Sarmat when operational. ** 42nd Rocket Division at Nizhniy Tagil with 27 mobile RS-24 Yars * 33rd Guards Rocket Army (HQ:

Omsk Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...

) ** 105th Mixed Aviation Squadron ** 29th Guards Rocket Division at

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

with 27 mobile RS-24 Yars ** 35th Rocket Division at

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

with mobile RT-2PM Topol and RS-24 Yars ** 39th Guards Rocket Division at

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

with 27 mobile RS-24 Yars ** 62nd Rocket Division at Uzhur with 28 silo-based R-36M2, which will also be replaced with the new RS-28 Sarmat when operational.

Numbers of missiles and warheads

The Strategic Missile Forces have: * 34 silo-based R-36M2 (SS-18) with up to 10 warheads, to be retired. * 45 mobile RT-2PM "Topol" (SS-25) with 1 warhead, now retired * 60 silo-based RT-2UTTH "Topol M" (SS-27) with 1 warhead * 18 mobile RT-2UTTH "Topol M" (SS-27) with 1 warhead * 24 silo-based RS-24 "Yars" (SS-29) with up to 4 warheads * 180 mobile RS-24 "Yars" (SS-29) with up to 4 warheads Kristensen and Korda (2020) list the UR-100N (SS-19), as retired from deployment, while noting that UR-100NUTTH being deployed with the Avangard.Hans M. Kristensen & Matt Korda (2020) Russian nuclear forces, 2020, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 76:2, 102-117, DOI: 10.1080/00963402.2020.1728985

Weapons and equipment

Intermediate-range ballistic missiles

* 9M729 Oreshnik – In service from 2024 to present.

Intercontinental-range ballistic missiles

* RS-28 Sarmat, SS-X-29 Satan II – In service from 2023 to present. * R-36M2 Voevoda, SS-18 Satan – In service from 1988 to present. * RS-24 Yars, SS-29 – In service from 2010 to present. * RT-2PM2 Topol-M, SS-27 Sickle-B – In service from 2000 to present.

Ranks and rank insignia

;Officer ranks ;Other ranks

Future

According to the Federation of American Scientists, for the foreseeable future, all new Russian ICBM deployments will be based on the MIRVed version of the solid-fueled Topol-M " RS-24 Yars" and the liquid-fueled RS-28 Sarmat. By the late 2020s, according to announcements by Russian military officials, all R-36M2 missiles will be retired in favor of the new RS-28 super-heavy ICBM.

References

External links

CSIS Missile Threat - Russia

''Strategic Missile Forces museum'' Official Website

Russian Nuclear Notebook 2019 - forces and Rocket Divisions
{{Strategic forces Strategic Rocket Forces Strategic forces