RS-26 Rubezh / Avangard - Program
The development of a new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile had been underway in Russia since 2011. Rubezh was created on the basis of one of the main missiles already used, Yars (they can be both ground-based (in underground silos) and mobile - on a tractor). The new ICBM has fewer stages (and, accordingly, a shorter flight range). According to experts, due to the short operating time of each stage, Rubezh becomes virtually invulnerable to missile defense systems.
Col. Gen. Vladimir Zarudnitsky, head of the Main Operations Department at Russia’s General Staff, spoke about the new missile system in mid-2013. “As part of the approved plan of augmenting the Russian armed forces, the MoD has conducted a test launch of the new Rubezh ICBM, which has greatly improved strike precision characteristics," the general said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. According to Gen. Zarudnitsky, once the Rubezh passes the trial program it will enter service with the Strategic Missile Troops (the Russian land-based nuclear forces). The first missile regiment will begin receiving these missiles later in 2014.
This was a new missile, of which the Russian Foreign Ministry notified the Americans in accordance with adequate procedures, which was expected to replace Topol-M mobile missile complexes. Prior to October 2013, the prototype of a new ICBM had been tested four times.
The test launch made on 06 June 2013 was the only launch that was officially confirmed by the Ministry of Defense; no details about the missiles had been provided. The first launch was carried out on September 27, 2011 from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region and ended with a failure. The missile fell about ten kilometers far from the launch pad.
The initial test launch of the RS-26 ICBM from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on September 28, 2011, fell through, with the missile veering off course and landing just eight kilometers from the launch site. All subsequent tests in May 2012, October 2012, and June 2013 proved successful. In the second test, the missile flew from Plesetsk to Kura, a distance of approximately 5,800 kilometers (3,600 miles).
Russia also carried out a successful test-firing of an RS-26 Rubezh ballistic missile from its southern Kapustin Yar launch center. The second two tests—in October 2012 and June 2013—were both successful. In both cases the missile flew from Kapustin Yar to Sary-Shagan, a distance of 2,050 kilometers (1,250 miles). The missile’s dummy warhead hit its target at the Sary Shagan range in Kazakhstan just minutes after takeoff from the Kapustin Yar rocket launch and development site in the southern Astrakhan region on 18 March 2015, Kommersant newspaper reported, citing a Defense Ministry source in Moscow.
If in the Plesetsk-Kura test the missile was flown with a single warhead, possibly the missile would not be able to demonstrate an ICBM range with multiple warheads. Russian officials continued to refer to the new missile as an ICBM after the two tests from Kapustin Yar to Sary-Shagan. According to General-Colonel Zarudnitskiy, the head of the Main Operational Directorate of Russia’s General Staff, all four launches were part of the series of tests with “a new intercontinental-range ballistic missile with improved accuracy.” Although Russian statements describing the RS-26 as a long-range ICBM cannot serve as definitive proof of the missile’s intended range and targets, the existence of a test to more than 5,500 kilometers does seem to place it outside the range of missiles banned by the INF Treaty.
The RS-26 Rubezh missile, based on the previous RS-24 Yars, was expected to be put on combat duty in 2015. The first missile would be deployed at the Irkutsk missile division in Siberia.
Russia's new-generation strategic ballistic missile RS-26 could be put on combat duty as early as in 2016, Commander of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, said 25 December 2014. "Tests of the RS-26 ballistic missile are still underway. We are planning to complete them next year and begin putting the missile on combat duty in 2016," Karakayev told RIA Novosti.
Demonstration to US inspectors of the recent Russian ballistic missile RS-26, "Frontier" has been transferred to the next year, Tass source in the Russian Defense Ministry said 18 November 2015. "By decision of the Ministry of Defence showing a group of American inspectors to our new intercontinental ballistic missile RS-26 moved from November 2015 to 2016, the new show dates have not been determined," - said the source. "The American side informed of the decision, it took note of it" - he added.
According to the source, during a demonstration missiles at the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant in Udmurtia in accordance with the START-3 Treaty Americans will have "certain information" about the technical characteristics of the RS-26, which distinguish it from the existing missiles "Yars" and "Topol-M" . In addition, the Russian side will also provide the inspectors photos PC-26, if requested. Finally, the Americans will be able to observe and measure the rocket, and they can not touch it and remove and will not see the launcher.
In the spring of 2015 the Federal Space Agency announced a competition for a demonstration of MS-26 inspectors from the United States. The event was planned to allocate more than 11 million rubles, including the organization of travel of inspectors and accompanying Russian, including meals, lodging and souvenirs.
Solid ballistic missile RS-26, known as "Frontier", created on the basis of MS-24. It was expected that in 2016 the missile would enter service in the Irkutsk Division RVSN.
The RS-26 strategic missile system will go on combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) in 2016, SMF Commander Colonel General Sergei Karakayev told RIA Novosti on 25 December 2014. "The RS-26 complex continues testing; we plan to complete it next year and will put it on combat duty starting in 2016," the commander said. The characteristics of the RS-26 are currently classified. It is only known that it is the newest Russian solid-fuel missile. Currently, the Strategic Missile Forces are on combat duty with solid-fuel Topol-M and Yars missiles, which are placed on mobile missile systems. The fifth-generation intercontinental ballistic missile RS-26 Rubezh will be accepted into service in the Russian army. By the end of 2015, the newest weapon capable of carrying a nuclear charge may already be on its first combat duty. This was announced today by the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakayev at the Army-2015 forum 16 June 2015. "The program of test launches of the newest Russian intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) RS-26 has been completed," Karakayev said, his words are quoted today by Interfax. "By the end of the year, a decision will be made on putting the RS-26 ICBM on combat duty." According to the country's chief missileman, tests of the entire missile system as a whole, as well as its individual units and assemblies, are currently ongoing. The final development work was completed in 2015, and it was planned to be delivered to the armed forces in 2017. But in 2018, the RS-26 was allegedly excluded from the weapons program until 2027. Such weapons are not currently being manufactured, although in the summer 0f 2024 the Russian Federation announced the resumption of production.
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