All three components of Russia’s strategic nuclear arsenal were tested on October 19, the portal of the President reports. An RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk region. The long-range missile hit its target at the Kura range in Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East.
Another ICBM crossed the skies the other way, from the east to the west. That missile was launced from the Delta-III class submarine “Svyatoy Georgiy Pobedonosets” from the Pacific fleet in the Sea of Okhotsk.The missile hit its target at the Chizha range on the Kanin Peninsula on the shores of the Barents Sea.
Strategic Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers from the Engels air base launched four cruise missiles that crossed the skies over Barents Russia and hit their targets at the Pemba range in the Komi Republic, reports RIA Novosti. The aircrafts were in air for 15 hours, Russia’s Defence Ministry reported.
Cruise missiles in Komi
While the intercontinental missiles and the cruise missiles were crossing the skies in different directions over the Barents Region, President Vladimir Putin, Commander-in-Chief personally participated.
Kremlin says Putin took part in the testing of automated communication management system, new algorithms of managing strategic nuclear forces through practically accomplishing test tasks.
Largest nuclear drill in post-Soviet Russia
Friday’s massive test drill of the nuclear arsenal was the largest ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The short, but proude, message posted by Kremlin the day after the test reads:
“The strategic nuclear forces’ exercises of such scale were conducted for the first time in Russia. Vladimir Putin gave high assessment to the military units and teams and the General Staff of the Armed Forces, who all accomplished the tasks set and proved reliability and efficiency of Russian’s nuclear forces.”
