What is a Yars ICBM?

This week, Russia has launched a command and staff exercise of its Strategic Missile Forces in Siberia, which involves one of the deadliest weapons in Moscow’s nuclear arsenal.

According to a statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the exercise involves the deployment of RS-24 Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchers.

So what exactly are these Yars missiles, which currently comprise a large portion of Russia’s strategic missile arsenal, and how much damage can they do? Sputnik explains.

What is an RS-24 Yars ICBM?

The RS-24 Yars is a solid-propellant three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile manufactured by the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, which forms the mainstay of Russia’s land-based strategic missile forces.

What Does Yars Mean in Russian?

The missile’s name - Yars - is actually an acronym for “Yadernaya Raketa Sderzhivaniya,” or “Nuclear Deterrence Missile” in English.

What is the Yars Missile's Capabilities?

The 17.8 meters long, 46-ton missile can be launched from a silo or a mobile erector launcher and carries a payload of multiple independently targetable warheads, which allows it to strike against several targets simultaneously.

Both types of Yars missiles pose a unique challenge to an enemy who might attempt to destroy them before launch: while a silo-based Yars is a lot less vulnerable to a cruise missile strike than a mobile unit, the latter is a lot harder to detect due to its ability to stay on the move and hide amid the vastness of Russia’s expanse.

The Yars ICBM is also designed to penetrate enemy ballistic missile defenses, making it almost a certainty that the nuclear doom it carries would reach its intended destination.

What is the Range of Yars missile?

Russia's Yars can unleash a nuclear apocalypse on targets at least 10,000 kilometers away, though some reports suggest that its range extends as far as 12,000 kilometers.

How Powerful is the Yars Missile?

The yield of each of Yars' independently targetable warhead (of the Yars-S model, to be precise), estimated at around 500 kilotons, is enough to obliterate a small town.

When Was the Yars Missile Adopted by Russia?

The history of the Yars ICBM's creation is shrouded in secrecy, which is hardly a surprise.

While it is not clear exactly when the missile’s development started or ended, Yars’ first test launch was carried out in May 2007, with the first Yars missile launcher being adopted by the Russian armed forces in 2009.

Has a Yars ICBM Ever Been Used?

Since its adoption and to this day, a Yars missile has never been launched at actual targets, and one can only hope that the day when Russia would be forced to unleash this terrifying weapon will never come.