Russian forces began exercises on Wednesday morning to test the new Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. What are the exact capabilities of this nuclear device? How likely is Vladimir Putin to deploy it? Why do the Russians publicize these exercises? Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Simoens delivered his expertise in the columns of HLN.
WATCH: What is the Yars nuclear missile?
The long-range missiles in question are impressive weapons. “These are missiles that are fired vertically and then rise kilometers high, almost into the stratosphere. As they climb very high, they reach phenomenal speed. They then descend directly. They can go more than 10,000 km away”, explains Tom Simoens, of the Royal Military Academy. “These ‘intercontinental ballistic missiles’ (ICBMs) can therefore fly from Russia to other continents. These are the weapons the Russians talk about when they say they can raze London”.
If the Russians deploy such a system, the end of the world is near. Period.
Much more difficult to intercept
The missiles with which the Russians are currently training are of the Yars type. They can fly up to 12,000 km away. But the long range is not the only advantage of these missiles. They are also much more difficult to intercept. “The only two atomic bombs dropped so far are those that hit the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. They were dropped from an airplane,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Simoens. “However, an aircraft is slow and vulnerable. It can easily be intercepted. An ICBM, on the other hand, can be launched from any platform, such as a deeply buried silo or a hard-to-detect submarine.”
These Russian mobile Yars missiles are fired from a truck. On each truck is a launch tube containing a missile. Inside the head of each missile are several nuclear warheads. When the missile descends from a high altitude, it bursts and the nuclear warheads are “discharged”. These small nuclear warheads are therefore extremely difficult to intercept. In short, these are incredibly effective weapons that are difficult to defend against. “If the Russians deploy such a system, the end of the world is near. Full stop,” says Mr. Simoens.
Whenever things aren’t going so well on the battlefield, they bring out their nuclear rhetoric.
3,000 soldiers involved
But do the Russians intend to use these ballistic missiles? In any case, they do not hide that they are currently training in three Russian regions. Quite the contrary. It was the Russian Ministry of Defense itself which proudly announced on Telegram that the maneuvers had begun. By his own admission, more than 3,000 soldiers and about 300 pieces of equipment are involved in these exercises.
“What the Russians are doing again today is nothing but rolling mechanics,” says Mr. Simoens. “Whenever things aren’t going so well on the battlefield, they bring out their nuclear rhetoric. Today, they realize that they have already shot their best arrows in their recent winter offensive. They have problems supplying their troops. That is why they are once again brandishing the threat of nuclear weapons. But who would they fire those ballistic missiles at? If they do it on Europe or the United States, they can certainly expect retaliation. The chances of these missiles being deployed are non-existent. This is not a realistic scenario.”
The Russian military is currently training with missile systems that have never been deployed and it is completely unrealistic to think that the Russians will be the first to do so in the future.
serve their own interests
According to Mr Simoens, these are exercises that could have been carried out in other circumstances, but without giving them as much publicity. Today, according to him, they are made to serve their own followers. “This is part of the rhetoric of making Russian public opinion believe that the country is under attack from NATO and the West. In the event of an attack, Russia must be able to defend itself. That’s what these intercontinental ballistic missiles are for”.
In other words, this is a Russian message aimed primarily at Russians themselves. “But with this message, they complicate the task on the international level”, adds Lieutenant-Colonel Tom Simoens. “I don’t understand what they want to achieve with this message, other than a discourse with regard to their own population. For us in the West, the most important thing is to be able to see through this rhetoric. The Russian military is currently training with missile systems that have never been deployed and it is completely unrealistic to think that the Russians will be the first to do so in the future.”
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