The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation (RVSN RF) is a separate combat arm of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It was formerly part of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1959 to 1991.
The Strategic Rocket Forces was created on 17 December 1959 as part of the Soviet Armed Forces as the main force for operating all Soviet nuclear ground-based intercontinental, intermediate-range ballistic missile, and medium-range ballistic missile with ranges over 1,000 kilometers. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, assets of the Strategic Rocket Forces were in the territories of several new states in addition to Russia, with armed nuclear missile silos in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. On 8 December 1991 according to Belovezha Accords, which dissolved the Soviet Union, the other 3 nuclear member states transferred Soviet missiles on their territory to Russia and they all joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Complementary strategic forces within Russia include the Russian Aerospace Forces' Long Range Aviation and the Russian Navy's ballistic missile submarines. Together the three bodies form Russia's nuclear triad.
History
The first Soviet rocket study unit was established in June 1946, by redesignating the 92nd Guards Mortar Regiment at Bad Berka in East Germany as the 22nd Brigade for Special Use of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command.Michael Holm, 24th Guards Rocket Division , accessed December 2013. On October 18, 1947, the brigade conducted the first launch of the remanufactured former German A-4 ballistic missile, or R-1, from the Kapustin Yar Range. In the early 1950s the 77th and 90th Brigades were formed to operate the R-1 (SS-1a 'Scunner'). The 54th and 56th Brigades were formed to conduct test launches of the R-2 (SS-2 'Sibling') at Kapustin Yar on June 1, 1952.
The 5th Scientific Research Proving Ground was established in 1955 in Kzyl-Orda Oblast at the town of Zarya later Leninsk, and finally in 1995 Baikonur. Also established that year was the 43rd Independent Scientific Experimental Station (Klyuchi, Kamchatka Krai) as an outstation of the Baikonur test site. Two years later "Object Angara" was formed at Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast, which after another name change in 1959 eventually became the 53rd Scientific Research Proving Ground in 1963.
From 1959 the Soviets introduced a number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) into service, including the R-7 (SS-6 'Sapwood'), the R-16 (SS-7 'Saddler'), the R-9 (SS-8 'Sasin'), the R-26 (given the NATO reporting name SS-8 'Sasin' due to incorrect identification as the R-9), the R-36 (SS-9 'Scarp'), and the RT-21 (SS-16 'Sinner'), which was possibly never made fully operational.
By 1990 all early types of missiles had been retired from service. In 1990, the Strategic Missile Forces were officially established as a service branch of the Armed Forces under the direct control of the Defense Ministry. The date of its formal foundation, December 17, is celebrated as Strategic Missile Forces Day.
Two rocket armies were formed in 1960. The 43rd Rocket Army and the 50th Rocket Army were formed from the previous 43rd and 50th Air Armies of the Long Range Aviation.
During a test of the R-16 ICBM on October 24, 1960, the test missile exploded on the pad, killing the first commander of the SRF, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. This disaster, the details of which were concealed for decades, became known as the Nedelin catastrophe. He was succeeded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko who was in turn quickly succeeded by Marshal Sergey Biryuzov. Under Marshal Biryuzov the SRF deployed missiles to Cuba in 1962 as part of Operation Anadyr. 36 R-12 intermediate range ballistic missiles were sent to Cuba, initiating the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 43rd Guards Missile Division of 43rd Rocket Army manned the missiles while in Cuba.
Marshal Nikolai Krylov took over in March 1963 and served until February 1972. During this time French President Charles de Gaulle visited the Strategic Missile Forces in 1966. Together with NI Krylov, he visited a missile division in Novosibirsk, and then at the invitation of Leonid Brezhnev participated in a demonstration missile launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR. Chief Marshal of Artillery Vladimir Fedorovich Tolubko commanded the SRF from April 12, 1972, to July 10, 1985. Tolubko emphasised raising the physical fitness standards within the SRF and in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Strategic Rocket Forces began to field the new UR-100 (SS-11 'Sego') and UR-100N (SS-19 'Stilleto') ICBMs beginning with the 43rd Rocket Army in the Ukrainian SSR, providing them with longer range and more accurate missiles. He was succeeded by General of the Army Yury Pavlovich Maksimov, who was in command from July 10, 1985, to August 19, 1992.
According to a 1980 TIME Magazine article citing analysts from RAND Corporation, Soviet non-Slavs were generally barred from joining the Strategic Rocket Forces because of suspicions about the loyalty of ethnic minorities to the state.Machine The U.S.S.R.: Moscow's Military Machine, TIME Magazine, June 23, 1980 Those who served in the Strategic Rocket Forces had better quality of living, food and also higher salaries than the ones paid to those serving in the Soviet Army. The majority of new recruits has, since its inception, consisted of mainly college and university graduates.
In 1989 the Strategic Rocket Forces had over 1,400 ICBMs, 300 launch control centers, and twenty-eight missile bases.Library of Congress Soviet Union Country Study , 1989 The RSVN operated RSD-10 (SS-20 'Saber') intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and R-12 (SS-4 'Sandal') medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Two-thirds of the road-mobile Soviet RSD-10 force was based in the western Soviet Union and was aimed at Western Europe.
One-third of the force was located east of the Ural Mountains and was targeted primarily against China. Older R-12 missiles were deployed at fixed sites in the western Soviet Union. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in December 1987, called for the elimination of all 553 Soviet RSD-10 and R-12 missiles within three years. As of mid-1989, over 50% of RSD-10 and R-12 missiles had been eliminated.
By 1990 the Soviet Union had seven types of operational ICBMs. About 50% were heavy R-36M (SS-18 'Satan') and UR-100N (SS-19 'Stiletto') ICBMs, which carried 80% of the country's land-based ICBM warheads. By this time it was producing new mobile, and hence survivable ICBMs, the RT-23 (SS-24 'Scalpel') and RT-2PM (SS-25 'Sickle').IISS Military Balance 1990–91, p.34
In 1990, with the R-12 apparently fully retired, the IISS reported that there were 350 UR-100s (SS-11 'Sego,' Mod 2/3), 60 RT-2s (SS-13 'Savage') still in service in one missile field, 75 UR-100MRs (SS-17 'Spanker,' Mod 3, with 4 MIRV), 308 R-36Ms (mostly Mod 4 with 10 MIRV), 320 UR-100Ns (mostly Mod 3 with 6 MIRV), some 60 RT-23s (silo and rail-mobile), and some 225 RT-2PMs (mobile).
Commanders of the Strategic Rocket Forces Rank Commander Start EndChief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin 17.12.1959 24.10.1960Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Semenovich Moskalenko 25.11.1960 24.4.1962Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergey Semenovich Biryuzov 24.4.1962 5.3.1963Marshal of the Soviet Union Nikolay Ivanovich Krylov 5.3.1963 9.2.1972Chief Marshal of Artillery Vladimir Fedorovich Tolubko 12.4.1972 10.7.1985General of the Army Yury Pavlovich Maksimov 10.7.1985 19.8.1992Marshal of the Russian Federation Igor Dmitrievich Sergeev 19.8.1992 22.5.1997General of the Army Vladimir Nikolaevich Yakovlev 6.1997 27.4.2001Colonel-General Nikolay Evgenevich Solovtsov 27.4.2001 3.8.2009Lieutenant-General Andrey Anatolevich Shvaychenko 3.8.09 22.6.2010Lieutenant-General Sergey Viktorovich Karakaev 22.6.2010
Composition of the Strategic Missile Forces 1960–1991
FormationHeadquarters LocationYear formed as CorpsYear formed as ArmyYear disbandedDivisions27th Guards Rocket ArmyHQ Vladimir, Moscow Military DistrictSept. 1, 1959 1970 Still active 7th Guards Rocket Division, 28th Guards Rocket Division, (32 ), 54th Guards Rocket Division, 60th Rocket Division31st Rocket Army Orenburg, Urals Military District Sept. 5, 1965 1970 Still active 8th, 13th, 14th, (41st Guards), 42nd, 50, 52nd, (55), 5933rd Guards Rocket Army Omsk, Siberian Military District 1962 1970 Still active 23, (34), 35th, 36th Guards, 38, 39th Guards, 57, 62 43rd Rocket Army Vinnitsa, Kiev Military District 1960 May 8, 1996 19 (Khmelnitsky), 37th Guards (Lutsk), 43 (Kremenchug), 44 (Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankovsk Oblast, disbanded March 1990; 46 (Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast)50th Rocket ArmySmolensk, Belorussian Military District 1960 June 30, 1990 1988: 7th Guards, 24th Guards (Gvardeysk, Kaliningrad Oblast),Previously 92 BON, then given the combined-arms designation of 22nd RVGK special-purpose brigade, then 72nd RVGK Engineer Brigade, and in 1960 the 24th Guards Division of the RVSN was formed on its basis. http://www.ww2.dk/new/rvsn/24gvmd.htm 31st Guards (former 83rd Guards Bryansko-Berlinskaya Aviation (Missile) Division, renumbered July 1, 1960), 32nd (Postavy, Vitebsk Oblast), 40th, 49th Guards (Lida, Grodno Region, 1963 to 1990), 58th (Karmelava, Lithuania) 53rd Rocket ArmyFormed Chita in 1970 from the 8th Independent Missile Corps, under Colonel-General Yury Zabegaylov. Included 45th Rocket Division (disbanded 1970). Chita, Transbaikal Military District 1962 June 8, 1970 Sept. 16, 2002 1988: 4th Rocket Division (Drovyanaya, Chita Oblast), 23rd Guards Rocket Division (Kansk, assigned 1983–2002), 27th Rocket Division (Svobodnyy, Amur Oblast), 29th, 36th Guards, 47th Rocket Division (Olovyannaya, Chita Oblast)http://www.ww2.dk/new/rvsn/47md.htm 47th Missile Division
RSVN training establishments included:Michael Holm, RSVN Schools the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Forces in Moscow; the Military Engineering Red Banner Institute named after A.F. Mozhayskiy (VIKI) in Leningrad; the Kharkov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces named after Marshal of the Soviet Union N.I. Krylov the Krasnodar Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces (KVVKIU) (1982–1998) the Perm Higher Military Command Engineering Red Banner School Missile Forces (:ru:Пермский военный институт ракетных войск) the Riga Higher Military Political Red Banner School named after Marshal of the Soviet Union S.S. Biryuzov (under the SRF from 1959 to 1993) the Rostov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces (RVVKIU) (1959 onwards) the Saratov Higher Military Command and Engineering School of Missile Forces (1959–2003 & 2024 onwards) the Serpukhov Higher Military Command Engineering School Missile Forces named after the Leninskiy Komsomol (SVVKU)
Post Soviet Union Like most of the Russian Armed Forces, the Strategic Missile Forces had limited access to resources for new equipment in the Yeltsin era. However, the Russian government made a priority of ensuring that the Missile Forces received new missiles to phase out older, less-reliable systems, and to incorporate newer capabilities in the face of international threats to the viability of the nuclear deterrent effect provided by their missiles. In particular the development of missile defense systems in the United States.