Moscow to Commission New Yars Missile Units, Avangard Systems - Russian MoD

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN) have said that they will put three missile units armed with Yars missile complexes and one unit with the Avangard hypersonic system on combat duty by year's end.

"By year's end, the RVSN will receive over 90 units of armaments, military, and specialized equipment, which will allow for their deployment to combat-duty missile units armed with the Yars mobile ground missile complex … in the Yoshkar-Ola, Irkutsk and Barnaul missile formations, two stationary launchers in the Kozelsk missile formation, as well as a missile unit armed with an Avangard strategic missile complex for the Yasny missile formation", the RVSN said.

The Defense Ministry added that the RVSN would receive more than 30 intercontinental ballistic missiles by the end of the training year, increasing the share of modern weapons in service with the Strategic Missile Forces to 76 per cent and providing them with new nuclear detterence capabilities.

According to the ministry's acquisition list published lst week, the Russian military is planning to conduct a total of nine test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) of various types in 2019-2021.In particular, the document stipulates a tender on liability insurance against claims resulting from injuries and damage to people and/or property during four launches of RS-12M Topol (SS-25) ICBM, three launches of RS-24 Yars (SS-29) ICBM, and two launches of RS-28 Sarmat (SS-X-30) ICBM in 2019-2021.