MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti) - Topol (SS-25 Sickle) intercontinental ballistic missiles will be put on full alert in the course of ongoing drills at the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) Tagil Division in the Urals region, SMF spokesman Col. Igor Yegorov said on Tuesday.
The drills, which started on Monday and will last through Saturday, will test the interoperability and teamwork of the division’s subunits, the efficiency of command and control, and the performance of combat training assignments under any circumstances, Yegorov said.
The Tagil Division is also being inspected by a special SMF commission that will test the personnel’s morale, combat skills, the ability to perform regular alert duty and to counter terrorism, the spokesman said.
At present the SMF reportedly operates at least 58 silo-based SS-18 Satan ballistic missiles, 160 road-mobile Topol (SS-25 Sickle) missile systems, 50 silo-based and 18 road-mobile Topol-M (SS-27 Sickle B) systems and 18 RS-24 Yars systems.
