Article Posted on : - Oct 09, 2009

Topol-M strategic missile rolls through the red square in Moscow. A file photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): Starting Friday, the Strategic Missile Forces of Russia will conduct a series of exercises in the Ivanovo Region near here, a media report said.

The exercises will continue till October 17, the SMF said in a statement on Thursday. However, it did not specify the nature of the exercise, only stating that 36 pilots would take part in the drill.

At least six warplanes and helicopters will participate in the exercises, to be held near the town of Teikovo, about 250 km east of Moscow, RIA Novosti said.

Teikovo is the base of 54th Strategic Missile Division, where the first two battalions were equipped with six road-mobile Topol-M (SS-27 Stalin) intercontinental ballistic missile systems.

Topol-M missile, with a range of about 11,000 km, is the core of the ground-based component of Russia's nuclear triad. As of the start of 2009, the SMF has operated 50 silo-based and six road-mobile Topol-M missile systems, the news agency said.