Russian Armageddon Convoy Practices for World War III
If this were to happen for real—well, hope you have a fallout shelter nearby.
The largest country in the
world by area, Russia has plenty of room to hide things. Naturally,
that includes nuclear missiles. Unlike American missiles, which are
stationed in concrete silos, Russian
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are deployed on large
truck-like vehicles designed to prowl the country’s road networks before
unleashing Armageddon.
Russia Today has a story
on a Russian strategic missile exercise that involves a massive convoy
traveling from European-Russian border all the way to the Mongolian
border. Russian mobile ICBMs have established, permanent bases but
leave in groups on month-long patrols. This particular 400-vehicle
convoy includes Topol, Topol-M, and Yars mobile missiles, as well as command and control, security, and logistics vehicles.
Topol and Yars missiles are capable of delivering one to four nuclear warheads within roughly a thousand feet of their target,
making them accurate enough to destroy American missiles in their
silos. This makes them a formidable first-strike weapon capable of
wiping out a significant part of the US nuclear arsenal, if the Russians
were so inclined.
The
giant vehicles are TELs, or transporter-erector-launchers, specialized
vehicles designed to give a heavy missile a smooth ride over rough
roads. TELs not only store the missile but can launch it in the
field. The launch tubes can be reloaded back at base (assuming, of
course, there is a base to return to). The smaller vehicles are
logistic, communications, and command and control vehicles.
Mobile ICBMs are
vulnerable to ground attack, particularly enemy special forces who may
attempt to destroy the missiles before they are launched. The convoy
relies upon a Taifun-M armored
reconnaissance vehicle to detect ambushes on the ground. Taifun-M
bristles with sensors, including forward-looking infra-red, radar, and
traditional optics, and can allegedly detect enemy troops at 3
kilometers.
Also part of the convoy is
a tracked robotic vehicle equipped with a machine gun. The unmanned
vehicle can more quickly close with an enemy threat and eliminate it
before the enemy can shoot at the giant, highly flammable rockets with
nuclear warheads strapped to them.We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it
again: these mobile ICBMs are terrifying.
Via Russia Today
