Russia's Strategic Missile Forces turned 53 years old on Monday. In the Cold War era, they acted as a deterrent to preclude war. Today, they act as a counterweight to America's global domination plans. They are also on standby in case the boisterous American mentality prompts the US to attack.

The Forces account for two thirds of Russia's nuclear weapons. Possessing a big arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, they are capable of hitting any target anywhere in the world with pinpoint accuracy.

Their arsenal consists of six missile types - three, based in silos, and three, mounted on rail platforms or trucks. Importantly, the US does not possess truck- or rail-mounted missiles.

Dr Igor Korotchenko is Editor-in-Chief of the Natsionalnaya Oborona, or National Defence, journal:

The might of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces safeguards a secure future for our country. The latest addition to this might is the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, which can be positioned in a silo or on the back of a heavy truck.

A missile of this type carries six independently targeted nuclear warheads of 150 kilotons TNT each. The Forces also possess another truck-mounted intercontinental missile, the Topol-M. It carries a single powerful nuclear warhead, which is capable of wiping out a megacity.

The Forces are taking on a new strategic dimension as the Americans, having withdrawn from the 1972 ABM limitation treaty, continue to refuse to extend binding guarantees that no US missile defence installation on European soil will compromise Russia's deterrence capability. Powerful missiles capable of smashing through missile defences are a guarantee in themselves.

Voice of Russia