"Currently we are planning re-arming another regiment with the Topol M missiles," he said.
According to Missile Force Commander, this will be the fifth such regiment in the Russian Armed Forces.
"In the last years, we have commissioned four missile regiments, a 40-launcher force," he said.
Solovtsov also said the first regiments armed with mobile Topols would come into action within two to three years, the ultimate goal of the Topol program being to have several divisions deployed.
In 2006 three to nine mobile Topol M launchers will be commissioned, Solovtsov told reporters.
"In 2005 the mobile launchers will not yet begin combat duty, but after 2006 we will deploy three to nine missiles per year," he said.
He claimed the flight tests of missiles for mobile launchers would be finished soon.
"Before the end of this year we are going to make two combat training launches: on December 22 a heavy missile will be launched from a permanent post; the other launch from the Plesetsk Space Center will be part of the Topol M flight test program," he said.
By 2008-2009, all old-fashioned heavy missiles would be put off combat duty, the Missile Force Commander said.
"Well, we have some heavy missiles, and we are decommissioning the older versions. By 2008-2009, we will put off duty all old-class liquid-propellant missiles," he went on but said newer missiles will still be operational.
"Today we forecast that they will be able to stay operational for 10 to 15 years to come," he said.
According to Solovtsov, liquid-propellant missiles have proved rather robust. Initially intended for ten-year service, they can have their service life extended two times and even 2.5 times, he said, still retaining superb performance.
According to the general, in the short term the planned six main classes of [ballistic] missiles will give way to two classes, both based on the solid-propellant Topol M concept. One will be designed for silo-based, the other for mobile launchers.
At the same time, Solovtsov admitted "calculating the prospects of liquid-propellant missiles." He said the issue was being considered at the research plenary meeting of the Strategic Missile Force leadership.
"I do not rule out that this direction will be considered in the future, though in the long term," he said.
In 2004, according to him, 14 units have been reduced in the Strategic Missile Force this year, and "five of them were missile regiments."
Explaining the reasons behind the reduction, Solovtsov said, "We do understand that, even if the service lives [of our missiles] can be extended twice or even three times, this cannot be done all the time for fear of severe consequences. We have to decommission outdated missiles because reliability and safety are our top priorities," the commander said.
He said 70% to 80% of the personnel would stay in the ranks, while 15% to 20% would most probably be fired. According to him, "[all] complicated missions have been accomplished" this year, and the Strategic Missile Force always proved highly skilled when put to test.
