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By Nikolai Novichkov, JDW Correspondent, Moscow Russia will not destroy its arsenal of multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in the timeline stipulated under the provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II), but will retain its MIRV capability until 2016, according to Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. Following the signing of the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty by US President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on 28 May, Russia announced it would withdraw from the provisions of START II. The decision means that Russia will now retain some 154 liquid-fuelled RS-20V (SS-18 'Satan') heavy ICBMs and combat rail-mobile missile complexes (RMMCs) with 36 RS-22V (SS-24 'Scalpel') ICBMs, each carrying 10 MIRV warheads. All ICBMs of this type were to be phased out before 2003 and eliminated before 2007 under the provisions of START II. During a 16 August visit to the Strategic Missile Forces' (SMF's) 35th South Urals Division, Ivanov said that Russia's decision to retain a group of RS-20V heavy ICBMs is not a response to the USA's withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (JDW 13 June 2002). "Even before the US announced its withdrawal from the ABM Treaty we had informed US officials that these missile systems would remain on alert," Ivanov said. He added that essentially the decision implies that the heavy ICBMs with MIRVs will be phased out as their service lives expire. "This will enable [us to retain] the RS-20 missiles on alert until 2016," he said. According to SMF Commander Col Gen Nikolai Solovtsov, two out of four RS-20V divisions will remain in service. The possibility of retaining another division armed with such missiles is also being considered. 276 of 605 words [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
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