MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax-AVN) - The periodical training of Strategic Missile Force leadership finished with the session of the military council held Friday. It was presided over by Colonel General Nikolai Solovtsov, the Strategic Missile Force commander.
A Strategic Missile Force press service official quoted him as saying that the missions assigned for the Strategic Missile Force in 2004 have been fulfilled in full: they ensured stable command and control of subordinate forces and nuclear weapons.
Summing up the results of the year-long training period, Solovtsov said that the inspections held by various authorities, including the General Staff and the Military Inspection of the Defense Ministry, had referred to the combat duty service of the Strategic Missile Force units as 'good one'.
The number of units that showed only satisfactory results of combat duty service reduced one and a half times.
It is owing to the elaborated combat duty service, and effective command, control and communications support that the most important aim of nuclear safety and security was achieved including when taking missiles with service lives expired out of service.
Solovtsov referred to the year 2004 as one of the most difficult times and a turning point for the future of the Strategic Missile Force.
"For instance, it was the first time through the 45-year history of the Strategic Missile Force that it was inspected by a General Staff commission. Other commissions of the Defense Ministry worked in the Strategic Missile Force in their spheres of responsibility, too. We must learn these lessons to eliminate the weak points discovered and prevent them in the future," he said.
According to him, the Strategic Missile Force command ensured the qualitative development of the force in 2004 within the background of its strength reduction.
The Strategic Missile Force press service informs that the session of the military council was attended by Colonel General Alexander Rukshin, chief of the General Staff's Operations Directorate, and other high-ranking officials of the Defense Ministry, plus about 200 general and senior officers of the Strategic Missile Force, including chiefs of branches and services, commanders of armies and divisions, heads of higher educational establishments and other institutions of the Strategic Missile Force.