New Russian railway missile complex Barguzin will carry six RS-24 Yars ICBM missiles 12202166

Defence & Security News - Russia
 
New Russian railway missile complex Barguzin will carry six RS-24 Yars ICBM missiles.
Colonel Nesterov said that in 2020 Russia’s armed forces will receive a new generation of ICBM-(Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) launching trains called Barguzin. It will carry six RS-24 Yars ICBMs, as compared to three RT-23 (NATO Reporting name SS-24 Scalpel) carried by its predecessor, the Molodets railroad ICBM system.
     
Colonel Nesterov said that in 2020 Russia’s armed forces will receive a new generation of ICBM-(Intercontinnetal Ballistic Missile) launching trains called Barguzin. It will carry six RS-24 Yars ICBMs, as compared to three RT-23 (NATO Reporting name SS-24 Scalpel) carried by its predecessor, the Molodets railroad ICBM system. RT-23 at the Varshavsky Rail Terminal, Home of the Central Museum of Railway Transport, Russian Federation (Source Wikipedia)
     
Military railway missile complex 15P961 "Molodets" with intercontinental missile 15ZH61 (RT-23 UTTH, SS-24 SCALPEL) was composed of three M62-class locomotives (a standard diesel electric locomotive of the period), followed by generating power car, command car, support car, and three missile launch vehicles, forming a nine-car set. The lead locomotive was driven by three officers, and the two immediately following engines were driven by two enlisted personnel each.

The Soviet military deployed its first rail-portable long-range missile in 1987, and had 12 of them by 1991. Rail-mobile missiles were removed from service in 2002 and the last base dismantled in 2007 under the START II arms reduction treaty with the United States.

Barguzin will be greatly superior to Molodets in terms of range, accuracy, and other characteristics. This will allow the system to remain in service for a long time, at least until 2040, Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces commander, Col.-Gen. Sergey Karakaev said.

The missile trains are stealthy and highly mobile, capable of covering up to a thousand kilometers in a single day. Disguised as a freight train, a missile train cannot be spotted either by satellite or electronic surveillance.

All necessary infrastructure, such as tunnels, reinforced tracks and launch sites, is still in place and ready to go.

Russia will soon start training crews for its feared missile trains, Echo Moskvy Radio reported citing the head of the Strategic Missile Forces’ military education department, Viktor Nesterov.