MOSCOW. Dec 23 (Interfax) - The number of long-range cruise missiles in service with the Russian Armed Forces has grown 37 times over the past eight years, the Defense Ministry said in a bulletin published in its official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on Wednesday.
In particular, the ministry listed as long-range cruise missiles Iskander-M ground-launched missiles, Kalibr sea-launched ones, and Kh-101 air-launched ones. All of them were mentioned in the Strategic Non-Nuclear Forces section.
The number of delivery vehicles for long-range cruise missiles, i.e. Iskander-M systems, naval ships, and long-range aircraft, has grown 13 times between 2012 and 2020. The bulletin also lists these delivery vehicles as strategic non-nuclear forces.
The Iskander-M system is in the inventory of the Russian Land Forces' missile brigades. The range of the missiles used for Iskander-M was earlier declared officially to be under 500 kilometers. These missiles can also carry a nuclear warhead.
The United States officially terminated its participation in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) on August 2, 2019. Before this, the U.S. accused Russia of violating the treaty, claiming that the 9M729 cruise missile used to arm the Iskander-M system had a range that did not comply with the agreement. Moscow has insisted repeatedly that the missiles used on Iskander-M do not breach the INF Treaty.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on February 5, 2019 that, in reply to the U.S.' decision to quit the INF Treaty, Russia would develop a ground-based version of the Kalibr system armed with a long-range cruise missile and a ground-based system using a long-range hypersonic missile in 2019-2020.
According to the Defense Ministry's data published in Krasnaya Zvezda in the Russian Armed Forces. Development from 2012 to 2020 section, the share of modern weapons in the strategic nuclear forces grew by 37% to 86% in this period. These forces include ground, marine, and aerial components of the strategic nuclear forces.