Russian SMF were established in 1959 in the USSR. With more than 5,000 missiles launched in 57 years, the SMF have never been used for the intended purpose as a military power.
The SMF is a vitally important branch of the Russian military in its own right, acting as a "guarantor of the security of the Russian Federation and its allies, as well as the independence of its foreign and domestic policy," as SMF Commander Col. Gen. Sergey Karakayev put it.
He explained the key role of the SMF as "ensuring the country's security until in result of technological progress or change in the nature of international relations the nuclear weapons lose their deterrent role."
