The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday dismissed reports about an 'abnormal situation' during the Grom (Thunder) 2019 strategic command post exercises
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st October, 2019) The Russian Defense Ministry on Monday dismissed reports about an 'abnormal situation' during the Grom (Thunder) 2019 strategic command post exercises.
The Vedomosti newspaper, citing two sources close to the ministry, wrote Monday that an emergency had occurred during the Grom drills, the final stage of which was personally led by Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to the newspaper, the K-44 Ryazan nuclear-powered missile submarine, part of the 25th submarine division of the Pacific Fleet, carried out on October 17 only one launch of the R-29R intercontinental ballistic missile at a range, not two.
"The information published by the Vedomosti newspaper about the alleged 'abnormal situation' during the Grom strategic command post exercises is not true," the ministry said.
The exercise aimed to check the combat command and control system of the Russian Armed Forces, and not the ability to fire the maximum number of missiles, it said.
The ministry said the tasks of the drills had been fulfilled, the missiles had hit the targets and confirmed their specified characteristics.
"After evaluating the information on the technical condition of one of the Ryazan submarine's missiles, obtained immediately before the launch, the decision was made not to fire it... The cancellation of the missile launch did not affect the successful results of the Grom command post exercise," it said.
