Shoigu was informed about the acceleration of nuclear warhead testing

Experts tell us what kind of warheads we might be talking about

The head of the Russian military department, Sergei Shoigu, visited the 12th Central Research Institute of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. This department is responsible for the nuclear complex of the Russian Armed Forces. The Minister of Defense was informed that the number of products being tested had increased manifold, and the testing time had been significantly reduced. Experts told MK which types of weapons might be tested.

The 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense is in charge of the warheads of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, that is, the Strategic Missile Forces, long-range aviation and nuclear forces of the Navy. It is responsible for nuclear technical support and nuclear safety. The specialists of this department are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the nuclear charges of the Yars missile systems or Kh-102 aircraft missiles operate without failure at hour X.

Everything is more or less clear with electromagnetic or radio compatibility tests of nuclear warheads and missiles. As with assessing the impact of vibration and temperature overloads on nuclear warheads. This testing is carried out on the ground using various stands. But how to test the explosion of a nuclear warhead? You have to be one hundred percent sure that it will work as it should at the right moment. How can I check this? After all, full-scale nuclear weapons tests are still under a moratorium. As an informed source explained to MK, this is what mathematical calculations and computer modeling are for.

Before the moratorium on nuclear testing, hundreds of research nuclear explosions were carried out at the test sites in Novaya Zemlya and Kazakhstan during Soviet times. Data about them today help to model the processes that occur during a warhead explosion.

The head of the most secret structure of the Ministry of Defense – the 12th Main Directorate, Lieutenant General Igor Kolesnikov, reported to the Minister of Defense that the updated experimental testing base of the 12th Central Research Institute made it possible to reduce the time of state tests and bring testing conditions as close as possible to full-scale explosive experiments.

The minister was also informed that “the number of weapons and special military equipment that have undergone testing has increased manifold.” The military department did not say what new types of nuclear weapons that require a full testing program are being discussed. But President Putin spoke about them back in March 2018. These are, for example, the unlimited-range cruise missile with a nuclear power plant “Burevestnik”, the underwater nuclear monster “Poseidon”, the world’s heaviest intercontinental missile “Sarmat”…

The Sarmat missile (they are going to be put on combat duty soon) carries a multiple warhead with individually targeted nuclear units. And these blocks of the new rocket, of course, must also go through a full cycle

Surely, there are other types of weapons that are being created for the Russian nuclear shield, which we simply do not know about yet. For example, Russia is ahead of leading countries in the field of hypersonic weapons. There is the Kinzhal missile and aviation complex, and the Zircon naval hypersonic missile has been put into service. No missile defense system in the world can handle such weapons. So, maybe it’s worth equipping such missiles with a nuclear charge? It is possible that specialists from the 12th Central Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense are already thinking about this issue.