"Russia has communicated about the missile launch through the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center. We will continue to monitor the situation," a Pentagon official said on March 2 (local time), referring to Russia's launch of an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) during a combat exercise on March 1.
Specifically, on March 1, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had conducted a combat training launch of the Yars mobile solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.
Yars intercontinental ballistic missile.
"The crew of the 14th Missile Division launched an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile during combat training at the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The training warheads fell to the target area at the Kura training range on the Kamchatka Peninsula," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
According to the Russian military, the purpose of the test launch is to check and confirm the tactical and technical characteristics of the Yars system, as well as allow the Strategic Missile Forces to complete the process of redeploying the Yars battery to a remote area before firing.
" All set tasks have been completed," the Russian Defense Ministry added.
The RS-24 Yars is one of Russia's main intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), first tested in 2007. Yars is an abbreviation of "Yadernaya Raketa Sderzhivaniya", meaning "nuclear deterrent missile".
The missile has a maximum range of 12,000km and can carry 10 thermonuclear warheads, each with a power equivalent to 300,000 tons of TNT. The Strategic Missile Forces is one of the five branches of the Russian military, responsible for operating mobile launchers and ICBM silos.
Yars is an upgraded version of the Topol-M missile system. Russia began deploying the Yars ICBM system in 2009, when the Yars launcher was accepted for experimental combat duty in the Strategic Missile Forces. Currently, about 150 Yars missiles are equipped with eight divisions.
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