"This year, the Strategic Missile Forces plan to conduct seven launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Over the past five years, the Strategic Missile Forces have conducted more than 20 ICBM launches as part of flight tests of advanced missile systems and exercises aimed at controlling the Russian armed forces," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on January 7 (local time).
It is known that Russia usually notifies the US about ICBM launches at least 24 hours in advance and Washington also acts similarly when planning to launch ICBMs. This activity is carried out when Russia and the US are the two countries with the largest nuclear arsenals in the world .
A Russian ICBM launch in 2022. (Photo: Reuters).
Last November, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its new nuclear submarine Emperor Alexander III had successfully launched a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile. The missile was launched from the White Sea, off the northern coast of Russia, and hit its target thousands of kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East.
The 12-meter-long Bulava missile has an estimated range of 8,000 kilometers and can carry up to six nuclear warheads. This weapon is considered the "cornerstone" of the Russian Navy's nuclear triad.
The Bulava missile is a Russian sea-launched ICBM, part of the D-30 launcher complex and designed to equip strategic missile submarines (SSBNs) of projects 09550, 09551 and 09552 "Borey" and "Borey-M". The missile was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. On January 10, 2013, the Bulava was accepted for combat testing.
The ballistic missile launch came as President Vladimir Putin said Russia would maintain its nuclear deterrent to counter growing security threats.
In December of the same year, Mr. Putin also attended the launching ceremony of two nuclear submarines, the Kranoyarsk and the Emperor Alexander III, in the city of Severodvinsk. At the ceremony, the Russian President pledged to carry out the plan to modernize the Russian Navy. He also revealed that these two nuclear submarines will soon be assigned to missions in the Pacific Ocean .
Recently, President Putin said that the country's nuclear triad is 95% modernized. According to the Russian leader, in the current global situation and the emergence of new "military-political risks", the nuclear triad plays an important role in "ensuring the strategic balance between the world's great powers" and this role is increasing.
Kong Anh (Source: Sputnik)
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