Russia to hold major strategic drills Grom-2019

Source:Xinhua Published: 2019/10/15 10:52:35


A helicopter Mi-8 goes to a position during the Center-2019 military exercises in Orenburg region, Russia, on Sept. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Evgeny Sinitsyn)


 

 
The Russian armed forces will hold Grom-2019 (Thunder-2019) strategic drills from Tuesday to Thursday to check the combat readiness of commanders and personnel in various parts of the country, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.

The drills will involve some 12,000 troops, 213 Strategic Missile Forces launchers, up to 105 aircraft, up to 15 surface ships, five submarines as well as hundreds of military units and special equipment, it said in a statement.

During the drills, launches of cruise and ballistic missiles will be carried out from the firing ranges in Russia's northwest - Pemboi in the Komi region, and Chizha in the Arkhangelsk region, as well as Kura in the far eastern Kamchatka peninsula.

Operational groups and units of the Russian central military authorities, Strategic Missile Forces, long-range and military transport aviation, as well as formations designed to support the actions of strategic deterrence forces will take part in the drills, the statement said.

Three types of ballistic missiles will be launched during the drills, the Defense Ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service said in a separate statement, quoting the acting head of the ministry's Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation Maj. General Yevgeny Ilyin.

"The launches of two RSM-50 ballistic missiles (SS-N-18) will be carried out towards the Chizha range. In addition, the Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (SS-29) and the Sineva ballistic missile (SS-N-23) will be launched towards the Kura range," Ilyin said at a briefing for foreign military attaches.

Yars is a Russian strategic missile system with a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which can carry three to four thermonuclear warheads of 300 kilotons, according to Zvezda.

Sineva is a three-stage liquid-propellant ballistic missile used with strategic submarines. Its head part can be equipped with four high-speed small-sized unguided warheads with a capacity of 500 kilotons each. Its maximum range can exceed 11,000 kilometers.


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