Once considered the most secret place in the world, the Balabanovo-1 missile base has now become a museum that allows people to freely visit.
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| According to English Russia, the Russian Strategic Missile Academy is located inside the Balabanovo-1 missile base, which used to be the training ground for thousands of officers and soldiers for the Soviet and Russian strategic missile units. During the Cold War, it was not on the map and was heavily guarded, but now everything has changed when Balabanovo-1 is open to visitors and you can visit the place where Russian missile troops are trained. |
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| Since 2004, the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to turn part of the missile academy at Balabanovo-1 into a museum of Russian strategic missiles. In 2007, the Balabanovo-1 base was also converted to another purpose. |
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| Image inside a hangar where a Russian strategic missile unit is stationed with full combat components including a mobile command vehicle, RT-2PM Topol mobile ballistic missile complex and logistical support vehicles. |
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| The Balabanovo-1 base was established in 1948, but it was not until 1961 that it began to be converted to serve the training of Soviet strategic missile troops. Pictured is a command vehicle and mobile launcher of the RT-2PM. |
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| The RT-2PM ballistic missile systems were put into service in the 1980s in the Soviet and later Russian armies. Although still one of the main weapons of the Russian strategic missile forces, the RT-2PM has gradually become obsolete and is being gradually replaced by the RT-2PM2 Topol-M. |
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| The launch support complex for the RT-2PM is mounted on the special MAZ-543M Uragan chassis. |
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| Each RT-2PM missile weighs up to 45 tons, is more than 29m long, has a maximum range of 10,000km and is equipped with a nuclear warhead with a destructive power of up to 800kt. |
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| The RT-2PM uses a three-stage solid-fuel engine with a flight speed of up to 25,000 km/h equivalent to Mach 21, which makes it difficult to intercept by enemy air defense systems. With an inertial and self-propelled guidance system, the RT-2PM has a deviation of only about 200m from the target. |
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| The RT-2PM mobile launcher is still in good working order except that it does not carry missiles. |
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| In another corner of the museum is a display of long-range ballistic missiles that made a name for Russia's strategic missile force. |
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| We can see some familiar names (from left to right): R-2, R-5M, R-12, R-14, R-16, R-9A, UR-100, R-36 and RT-2. |
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| They were all developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War to maintain nuclear deterrence against the United States and some Western European countries, and fortunately they have never been deployed to attack a country. |
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| Pictured is the final stage launch assembly of the RT-2 intercontinental ballistic missile. It is deployed from underground launch pads and its main opponent is the US Minuteman III missile. |
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| And here is a model of an underground launch bunker with 12 floors, inside there is a combat command center system, living quarters for soldiers, a separate electrical system and is completely capable of withstanding a nuclear attack. |
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| Image inside the operational command center of a former Soviet ballistic missile launch silo. |
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| These Russian missile silos are completely immune to cyber attacks from the outside and use separate communication protocols with the central combat command center. Many units are even given orders via a special landline telephone system, all of which are encrypted. |
According to Knowledge
