PRESS CONFERENCE WITH IGOR SERGEYEV, GENERAL OF THE ARMY, STRATEGIC MISSILES TROOPS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF (DOM ZHURNALISTA, 14:00, DECEMBER 16, 1996)
Moderator: Good day, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, today a historic moment is taking place in the press center of the Central House of Journalists -- for the first time in the more than 200 years of history of the Central House of Journalists we have here the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces of Russia Igor Dmitriyevich Sergeyev.We are holding the press conference because tomorrow is yet another birthday of the Russian strategic missile forces. The subject of the press conference -- "Strategic Missile Forces: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" is very relevant.
Taking part in the press conference also are chief of the Main Staff of the Russian strategic missile forces Colonel-General Viktor Ivanovich Yesin and the head of the press center of the strategic missile forces Colonel Ilshat Usmanovich Baichurin.
I will first give the floor to Igor Dmitriyevich and after his opening statement we will take questions.
Sergeyev: Tomorrow, on the day set by a presidential decree, Russia's missile forces will be marking their 37th anniversary. Of course, this length of time cannot be compared with the history, say, of the Navy, whose 300th anniversary was celebrated by Russia recently. At the same time these 37 years, if we recall all the happenings that fell to the lot of the missile forces, if we recall their origination, development, this is not such a small period of
time. Today these forces are ensuring Russia's defense capability, strategic stability in the world.
I would say that the history of the strategic missile forces has the following stages or periods. But the main event that was the harbinger of the emergence of the missile forces was the first launch in October 1947. That was the launch of a controlled ballistic missile from our first test site in Kapustin Yar. That was a missile that was created in our country within just two years after the ending of the war.
Then came 1957, the first artificial satellite of the Earth. It was military rocketmen who launched it. Then came 1959 -- the testing of a nuclear charge, then the forming of the first Special Designation Brigade. Under the command of Major-General Tveretskoy the Brigade not only continued to test missile complexes, but also formed the basis of their combat use.
It must be recalled that rocket units, using non-nuclear warheads, took part in the war alongside the ground forces.
In 1959, on December 17 a new armed service was established, the strategic missile forces. Its history falls into several stages.
The first stage spanned the period from 1959 to 1965, the period when the missile forces were taking shape. The first commander of the missile forces was Nedelin who died in 1960 during the tests of the R- 16 rocket. He was succeeded by the Hero of the Soviet Union, Marshal Moskalenko Kirill Semyonovich. He was followed by Berezov Sergei Semyonovich. During this period the missile forces were growing rapidly. Medium range missiles were provided. And the first organizational measures were taken to put together combat units of the missile forces.
In the period between 1965 and 1973, under the leadership of Marshal Krylov, a Hero of World War II, the missile forces continued to be improved and the first silo-based missile systems were put on combat duty and individual launch facilities situated within the locations of the missile regiments and divisions. Combat duty was organized in the missile forces. The first systems of combat control were put in place.
The next stage was 1973-1985. Chief Marshal of the Artillery Vladimir Fyodorovich (name indistinct) presided over the improvement of the missile forces. MIRV missiles appeared. We achieved parity with the United States.
And finally the period between 1985 and 1992 when the missile forces were commanded by Army General Maximov Yuri Pavlovich, an Afghan war veteran. The first mobile missile complexes appeared, missiles protected against nuclear explosions, the fourth generation of mobile strategic complexes without analogues in the world based on the ground and rail.
And finally the modern period which began on May 7, 1992, when the Russian armed forces were established. The missile forces are developing in a totally new context. The Cold War has come to an end, the nuclear confrontation has come to an end. At the same time the Soviet Union has disintegrated, the Warsaw Treaty has disintegrated. For the missile people this period saw the collapse of cooperation between the producers of different components of missiles. During this period we have been complying with the START-1 Treaty, we signed START-2. So, the world seeks to reduce nuclear weapons and we understand that there is no alternative to disarmament.
At the same time today, when the general purpose forces in Russia are weakened, the brunt of the task of defending the country falls on the strategic forces whose main component has always been the strategic missile forces. They have retained their combat readiness at the same level as 10-15 years ago when the nation provided everything for them to develop and be combat ready. They have preserved centralized control and lived up to their objectives in 1996 and in the previous years.
The missile forces have the duty not only of maintaining the combat readiness, but also of increasing it. During these years 111 launchers have been put on duty.
The missile forces also are going ahead with disposal of their weapons at two facilities built by the strategic missile forces themselves in place of those which have remained in Ukraine and Belarus when the medium range missiles were dismantled. By now we have carried out a large amount of work to comply with START-1. We have dismantled the missile units in Kazakhstan, we have withdrawn missiles from Belarus, we are assisting Ukraine in its scheduled work to dismantle the missile forces in Ukraine.
I can give you the relevant numbers. 20,000 tons has been discharged and dispatched to storage methylhydrozene (0.0001 of mg per liter is a lethal dose), 2,500 nuclear warheads were taken out and placed in facilities which convert them into other components, civilian components. 153 missiles have been dismantled and moved to Russia. This work was more extensive by an order than the similar work carried out by the missile forces at any other time. 50,000 hazardous works involving dimediohydrazide and nuclear warheads were carried out by the Missile Forces' servicemen in that period without losing a single person, without creating a single situation fraught with environmental damage.
At present the SMF have 19 combat-ready missile divisions in Russia; of them 70 percent cope with their combat missions and are evaluated as "good". Two missile regiments -- one mobile and one (inaudible)-based are showing "excellent" performance, the number of emergencies and crimes in SMF has dropped 30 percent. The credit for all this goes, first of all, to commissioned officers of the SMF, for all hardships stemming from the country's economic plight are evenly
distributed and the SMF bear their share. Here I would wind up by brief review of the SMF's history and their present-day activities. Thank you for your attention.
Moderator: Dear colleagues, I would like to let Baichurin Ilshat, head of the SMF press center, to take over as moderator for the rest of the press conference. Go ahead.
Baichurin: Dear colleagues, I would like you to go ahead with your questions. We would like to note that unfortunately, the SMF are the only service in the armed forces to have no mass media of their own. That's why we pin all our hopes on you. We rely on your help in all matters concerning coverage of SMF life and activities. And naturally, we are willing to meet with you. Today's press conference is another evidence of this. Once again I would like to thank you for being sensitive and attentive towards our service, for being impartial and benevolent in providing coverage of our service. Thank you very much for --(inaudible)--. And now, before you ask your question, please, identify yourself and your institution. And now questions, please.
Q: TASS military department. Yurkin. Comrade General of the Army, you referred to cutting nuclear arms. Now Russia is about to sign the START-2 and START-3 treaties. Will you have enough forces to fulfil your national security tasks, if the need arises?
Sergeyev: In our opinion, the START-2 treaty, if ratified, would ensure the balance of strategic nuclear forces, including with the United States. What, in our opinion, are the advantages of concluding the START-2 treaty? First of all, the preservation of the strategic balance. The difference that exists today, the United States is now ahead of Russia in the number of nuclear warheads, strategic nuclear warheads, will be substantially diminished with the conclusion of START-2.
Second. The preamble of the START-2 treaty contains a provision that prevents the deployment of a strategic ABM system. This is very important for peace. If the United States withdraws from the treaty, this will be the cause of a new spiral of the arms race.
The structure of the strategic nuclear forces of Russia, including missile forces, has been scaled down. The START-2 treaty deals mostly with strategic missile forces.
The upkeep of the forces will cost substantially less. But this on condition that the Russian economy is capable of adequate responses in the event of the conclusion of the accord, if the economy is capable of replenishing the withdrawal of armaments due to wear and tear and aging. The replacement could be with the existing missile systems called Topol and with the modernized missile complex, that has gone through flight tests, the Topol M. This complex was created in the design bureaus of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. It is manufactured only by Russian enterprises, as different from the present situation when some 40 percent of enterprises that produce, monitor and service missiles are located outside of Russia.
Proceeding from this, we believe that START-2 is needed by Russia, that, if observed, it will not detract from Russia's security.
Moderator: Questions?
Q: Interfax. A lot is being said now about reform in the armed forces. What can you say about reform in the missile forces?
Sergeyev: The reform in the armed forces will involve also the Strategic Missile Forces. I believe that the reform of the Strategic Missile Forces was determined by the treaties START-1 and START-2, given that the latter is finalized. In short, the missile forces will be both reduced and further developed. But only within the framework of these accords.
I believe the Defense Council has already issued its press release and you are familiar with it. The main direction, as it is stated there and as it should be, is to optimize organizational structures in the armed forces, including the Strategic Missile Forces. I mean merging with allied services, for instance, Space Military Forces, Space Defense Missiles, Outer Space Control, etc.
Q: 2x2 TV. What is the non-targeting regimen that is being observed for two years already by Russian, British, American forces? What does it take to switch back to combat readiness?
Sergeyev: According to agreements, and this includes China as well, we have this non-targeting regimen. In my opinion, this means increasing the threshold of nuclear safety. This is yet another guarantee against accidental or non-sanctioned actions.
As to combat readiness, it is the same in our case and in the case of the Americans. Of course, it is possible to switch back.
Q: Yunost radio. What is your attitude to switching the army to a professional basis? -- (off mike) --
Sergeyev: Your first question. I fully support the presidential decree on the switching of the Russian armed forces to a professional basis. The more so, that in the missile forces today 70 percent of personnel are professionals. I can tell you that there is not a single recruit, not a single soldier called up to do his military service near missile systems. Working there are only officers, non- commissioned officers and, very rarely, soldiers who are serving on the basis of contracts. In other words, professionals are working there. This explains why the missile forces have retained all the parameters of their combat readiness.
We have learned from practice that non-professional work is much less efficient than professional work. Also, in the course of the 37 years of the development of the missile forces we did not have a single breakdown or catastrophe. This is not a God send, credit for this goes to professionals. Naturally, government investments are needed and the country's combat readiness will benefit by them greatly.
The second question. Nuclear weapons are used only on the President's authorization. We don't know who has the control of the nuclear button, but we know that if an order is to come, it can come only from the President. For this purpose we have corresponding equipment which will authenticate the order.
Q: Today Russians and the world community are worried about nuclear safety. How safe are nuclear warheads in the strategic missile forces in the process of maintenance, transportation and servicing?
Sergeyev: This question should always be of concern to the public and especially to the missile forces. They are responsible for nuclear safety. Nuclear safety is ensured in the missile forces by a combination of technical and organizational measures beginning from the design stage and through the operational period until the disposal period. The safety margin built into the design is large enough to rule out unsanctioned actions and attempts to do so which will immediately be detected and cut short. And the organizational measures comprise secure protection of every launch site and the technical observation, detection and knockout systems and constant guard duty on launch sites, airfields, communication hubs, command posts and technical positions. Even as I am talking to you 12,000 men are taking charge of safety every minute.
Q: I have two questions. You have mentioned (off mike)... Second question. Reportedly the President has some documents connected with the activities of Marshal Zhukov at the time when the missile forces were created as a separate service. Could you comment on that?
Sergeyev: I am afraid I cannot answer that question because I am not familiar with these documents. As for the special missile brigade, we marked its 50th jubilee last May. It was created in 1946. So, I wouldn't like to engage in guesswork.
Q: (off mike.)
Sergeyev: This is a modern fourth generation three-stage solid fuel environmentally friendly missile with control system which is protected against the impact of a nuclear explosion, a system which can be operationally retargeted, has a long range, high accuracy. Its main quality is its very high degree of survivability, thanks to maneuverability in the positional area of the division. The launcher moves and thereby precludes an aimed hit.
This is a very strong measure of deterrence.
Q: Podmoskovnye Izvestia. Igor Dmitriyevich, first of all, I want to congratulate you with your tomorrow's professional holiday, it seems to me that your forces are one of the few that have retained traditions and are up to the mark.
What is your attitude to the idea of having a civilian Defense Minister? Your answer can be regardless of personalities.
Sergeyev: I believe that under the old system we needed a military man as minister. The old system did not provide for any political participation of the minister. The Defense Minister did not travel much, he commanded the troops. There was rigid centralization. That was acceptable.
Now, as we are building a democratic society, a democratic state, the Defense Minister is first of all a politician. Even if he is a military man, the army, one way or another, becomes involved in politics, in political games. If he is a civilian person and thereby sets a certain distance between himself and the armed forces, if he deals with military policy, with administration, I believe this is a modern direction, it has been tried out in the world.
Q: Krasnaya Zvezda. I do not know if my colleagues know this, but you were one of the very first missilemen among our military. Tomorrow's holiday will remind you of your youth and manhood. On behalf of the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, I congratulate you and all those who are on combat duty on the ground and underground.
I have the following question. A lot is being said about the Topol system. But it is also an important task for you to develop an automated control system. As the commanding officer and a doctor of technical sciences, what could you tell us about this?
Sergeyev: Of course. For 15 years I was chairman of the state commission on the creation of combat control systems for the Strategic
Missile Forces. Such a system has actually been created to the extent of 90 percent. I regret to say that it is taking a lot of time to create it. Other systems, say, rocket systems were created within shorter periods of time.
The combat control system is of great importance for the effectiveness of nuclear weapons, for what is the sense of having a mass (of arms) which is poorly controlled or not controlled at all? So, combat control makes a great contribution to the effectiveness, and the smaller the number of warheads strategic nuclear forces possess, the greater the importance of their combat control system.
It has to be extremely reliable, with its allowance close to the probability of the Moon's falling on the Earth. It has to let through only trustworthy information, it must be applicable under any conditions, including under conditions of heavy counteraction by an adversary, both radioelectronic and, God forbid, nuclear. All this makes the basis of response measures, which are measures of deterrence.
Q: Segodnya newspaper. --(off mike)-- Could you tell us, please, today, now that new geopolitical realities exist, NATO expansion eastward is a decided matter, the ABM treaty is about to be seriously amended, what does all this entail for the SMF? In what way will you have to adjust your future development? Thank you.
Sergeyev: Of course, all these are new conditions, which are different from those under which the START-2 was being signed. Both the fact that the US Congress stepped up its efforts to speed up the elaboration of ABM treaty, and NATO's movement eastward. On the other hand, we concluded this treaty with the USA, not with NATO. I think one cannot link the START-2 treaty to the NATO expansion, because militarily there is no point in such a linkage: there may be only 1 percent of the world territory which is out of reach for the SMF.
Q: Reuters news agency. The first question is just to bring some clarity to what you said. You said you would accept only an order from the president, that you are not too anxious to know who has the "nuclear button". Is it right that while Boris Nikolayevich was undergoing surgery under narcosis, had something happened, not a single person in the entire country would have been in a position to issue an order? And another question: to what extent the SMF, as compared to other units of the army, are hit by delayed financing, back salaries? If they are hit, how does this affect their combat readiness?
Sergeyev: I would answer the first question in the following way: this is above my level of responsibility, I cannot answer it? I am a military man, I am in charge of the SMF. As regards the second question, financing is the main concern today. The Commander-in-chief takes care of it from dawn till dusk, starting and ending his working day with it. Today I asked the defense minister to help us at least a little by reducing part of the September debt; the defense minister
was kind enough to help us a little. It takes 7 hours for money to go from the SMF to a division stationed in Chita, and the system is very convenient since it prevents money from straying.
Field branches of the State Bank exist in every missile division. So, we can get money transfers on any day. It can be Friday or Saturday. In the past months something has been done to pay back the arrears. But the problem had come to head. I told you that we have not yet paid the bills for September. So, we have yet to pay salaries for October, November and December. This is the key problem because unless it is solved the stability and high morale which distinguish the missile forces today may disappear.
Another financial problem is the provision of housing for servicemen. We have withdrawn five divisions, two from Kazakhstan and three from Belarus, but we are not on any government program unlike the Western Group. We left the Kazakhstan steppes and all the Russian officers are to go back to Russia. They had fulfilled their duty in full. And we moved about 4,000 families to Russia. Unfortunately they had to be put up in buildings which house teaching classes. We had to provide people with roofs over their heads. The missile forces have coped with this problem but we have not been able to keep the housebuilding schedule for three years. The missile forces personnel are mainly accommodated in closed communities, two thirds of the forces. These places are in areas with severe climate. So, an officer discharged from the missile forces finds it very hard to get a new job or find a job for his wife.
And the process of moving these people is going very slowly. If we managed to cope with that problem we wouldn't have to build new apartments. In general the time has come to make a decision to provide officers with apartments free of charge.
Q: (Off mike.)
Sergeyev: I am not in any way connected with the nuclear button. I get my orders from the Defense Minister.
Q: (Off mike.)
Sergeyev: The procedure may change, perhaps, it will be the chief of the General Staff. But the fact remains that the control system receives an order which originates from the President.
Moderator: If there are no more questions, we thank you, colleagues, for your attention.
Sergeyev: I am grateful to you for the interest you have shown in the missile forces. I have told you that there is no other way in which we can communicate with our people and explain to the tax players where their money goes. Thank you.
END
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