A new intercontinental ballistic missile loaded into a silo launcher at a Russian base is capable of reaching the UK within seven minutes. The RS-24 Yars was moved into position at Kozelsk in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow on Sunday (December 17), according to The Kremlin.
Measuring 23 metres in length, the “Doomsday” missile carries Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) – which allow it to fire multiple nuclear warheads at different targets.
It is capable of hitting targets within 150 metres of accuracy and can travel in excess of Mach 2, reaching speeds of 16,700mph. With a distance of roughly 1,791 miles between London and Russia’s Kozelsk base, the missile could reach the capital in under seven minutes.
The RS-24 Yars missile, which weighs 49,000kg, was first tested in May 2007 in response to US plans for a “missile shield” in Europe.
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But it does not have the furthest range among Russia’s arsenal of operational missiles, according to Statista. The R-36 “Satan” intercontinental ballistic missile has a range of 9,941 miles (16,000km).
The missiles with the second-longest maximum range in Russia’s arsenal are the Shtil, Topol-M, and Topol, which are all at 6,835 miles(11,000km). Moscow has around 5,889 nuclear warheads while Washington has some 5,244, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
Of their nuclear arsenals, Russia and the United States each have about 1,670 strategic nuclear warheads deployed. Combined, the two countries control 90 percent of the total number of nuclear weapons in the world.
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Russia’s defence ministry was tight-lipped about why the RS-24 was loaded into a silo launcher near Moscow. It said: “In the Kozelsky compound, Strategic Missile Forces loaded a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile into a silo launcher”.
The ministry released a video of the huge missile being transported to the sile, accompanied by thumping rock music. It added: “The Kozelsk missile unit is the first in the Strategic Missile Forces to be rearmed with the stationary-based Yars missile system.”
The ministry also said personnel from Russia’s missile unit carried military exercises. This included practicing the countering of both mock sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
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