​What russia (Never) Showed During the Recent Drills with Tactical Nukes

First stage of exercises with tactical nuclear weapons has begun, the Ministry of Defense of russia announced Wednesday. Formally, the Kremlin called these drills a "practice of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons," they take place in the Southern Military District of the russian federation, neighboring Ukraine and on its russian-occupied territories.

The ministry's press service reported and demonstrated exercises involving Iskander short-range ballistic missile systems, the airborne component was represented by Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, as well as MiG-31K interceptors, the exclusive carriers of Kh-47 Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles. However, the footage filming some episodes of this training barely correlates with what is claimed.

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Precisely, the deployment of the Iskander systems and loading of ballistic or cruise missiles out in the field is a standard procedure that has nothing to do with the type of ammunition used: a conventional missile is placed on the launcher the same way a nuclear one does. That said, the main point of these exercises, at least based on the experience from the USSR, is the operation of implanting the nuclear charge into the carrier missile. After all, nuclear warheads are not stored at army units but in warehouses known as "Object C" and cannot be accessed other than during such trainings.

Instead, the video shows Iskander SRBM systems with support vehicles moving out to the firing position, then personnel loading some different launchers, as indicated by the absence of the "Z" symbol on them.

The second episode is the deployment of another column. But this time in a different environment. If earlier the exercise was unfolding an ordinary forest steppe, this time it was filmed in another climatic region. And what's most interesting, OSINT researchers took this frames showing just three trees and a T-shaped intersection in the middle of nothing, and found this location.

Turns out, it was filmed at the famous russian Kapustin Yar proving ground and the 60th Training Center for Combat Use (military unit 47209). This ground is a traditional place for testing missile systems and training missile forces. At the same time, it is not a permanent deployment base for any armed units.

The third episode was filmed at an airfield. Its location has not yet been established, but most likely it is the 929th Flight Test Center in Akhtubinsk. Here we can see a Tu-22M3 without weapons. Worth noting, this aircraft is a carrier of Kh-22 and Kh-32 missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads.

Then, there's a MiG-31K aircraft with a Kh-47 Kinzhal mounted under the wing, which may also be equipped with a nuclear warhead.

In summary, if not for the postscript that all these unrelated clips show a "nuclear training," nothing tells there are any sort of operations or exercises with unconventional weapons. But the very fact that these trainings take place not in military units, but in training centers, directly speaks of the rather limited scale of these drills and their detachment from working out practical aspects.

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