Russian NBC
Protection Troops
The Nuclear, Biological and Chemical
Protection Troops of the Russian Armed
Forces (Russian: Войска радиационной,
химической и биологической защиты
Вооружённых сил Российской
Федерации (Войска РХБ защиты ВС
РФ), romanized: Voyska radnatsionnoy
khimicheskoy i biologicheskoy zashchiti
Vooruzhyonn'kh sil Rossiyskoy Federatsii
(Voyska RKhB zashchiti VS RF)) are an
organisation designed to reduce the
losses of the Ground Forces and ensuring
their combat tasks assigned during
operations in conditions of radioactive,
chemical and biological contamination, as
well as at enhancing their survivability and
protection against high-precision and
other weapons.[1]
Russian NBC Protection Troops
Войска радиационной, химической и
биологической защиты Вооружённых сил
Российской Федерации (Войска РХБ
защиты ВС РФ)
Great emblem of the Russian NBC Protection
Troops
Active
13 November 1918 –
present
Country
Russia
Branch
Russian Armed
Type
Forces
CBRN defense
Part of
Ministry of Defense
Engagements
Russian military
intervention in the
Syrian Civil War
Commanders
Current
General Lieutenant
commander
Igor Kirilov
Insignia
Flag
History
In 1944, the Red Army's Chemical Troops
had 19 brigades (14 technical and 5
chemical protection). After the end of
World War II, most of them were
disbanded.[2]
General Major Vladimir Pikalov (promoted
to Colonel General by 1975) commanded
the Chemical Troops of the Ministry of
Defence from March 1968 to December
1988. He was in charge of the specialised
military units at the site of the Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Pikalov
arrived at the scene on the afternoon of 26
April 1986, and assumed command of the
specialised military units there.[3] General
Pikalov was later made a Hero of the
Soviet Union for his actions there.
Among the 23 brigades of the Chemical
Troops in the late 1980s were the 1st (ru:1я мобильная бригада РХБ защиты at
Shikhany-2 (Vol'sk-18), two kilometres
from Shikhany, in the Saratov Oblast of the
Volga Military District, 2nd Brigade at
Teikovo in the Moscow Military District,
3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th,
19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 25th, 26th,
27th, and the 28th (28-ма окрема
бригада радіаційного, хімічного,
біологічного захисту) located in
Severodonetsk in the Kyiv Military
District.[4]
In 1992, the Chemical Troops within the
Russian Armed Forces were renamed the
NBC Protection Troops.
Structure and tasks
The UTM-80M heat treatment machine cleans the TOS-1 Pinocchio heavy flamethrower MLRS. Shock RCB troops from the
27th separate brigade of the RCB protection, during training with the support of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units of
the 20th Guards CAA, released "captured" city in terms of radiation contamination of the area.
Armored personnel carrier BTR-82A with troops in NBC suits. The RCB troops, from the 27th separate brigade of the RCB
protection, during training with the support of motorized rifle, tank and artillery units of the 20th Guards CAA, released
"captured" city in terms of radiation contamination of the area.
The basis of the NBC Protection Troops
are multifunctional separate NBCP
brigades which have subunits capable to
perform all NBC protection activities. The
Russians know them as Radiological,
Chemical and Biological (RBC) troops.
They often work within a combined arms
army. Their main tasks include:[1]
identification and assessment of
radiological, chemical and biological
environment, scales and effects of
damages of objects hazardous
radiatively, chemically and biologically;
protection of formations and units
against the nuclear effects of mass
destruction weapons and radiological,
chemical and biological contamination;
reducing the visibility of troops and
facilities;
disaster (damage) recovery in objects
hazardous radiatively, chemically and
biologically;
causing loss to the enemy by using
flame-incendiary means.
The NBC Protection Troops are organised
for both conduct of hostilities using
nuclear, biological and chemical weapons
and without them and includes:
nuclear detection;
NBC reconnaissance and control;
collection and processing of data and
information on radiological, chemical
and biological environment;
notification of troops on NBC
contamination;
conducting special treatment
(decontamination, degassing and
disinfection) of armaments, military and
special equipment, buildings and other
objects, as well as sanitisation of
personnel;
aerosol counteraction against the
enemy’s reconnaissance and targeting
means.[1]
The NBCP Troops are developing as dualpurpose forces, able to solve tasks both in
war and peace times, in the aftermath of
accidents and disasters in industrial
facilities hazardous radiatively, chemically
and biologically. Further build-up of their
capacity is realized by creating a modern
system to identify and assess the extent
and effects of weapons of mass
destruction, integrated with automated
control systems of troops and weapons
and stable functioning in the NBC threat
environment and strong electronic
countermeasures. In addition, there is a
process to equip formations, units and
subdivisions of NBCP with new, highly
effective means of NBC reconnaissance,
individual and collective defence, technical
means of reducing the visibility and
masking, flame-throwing incendiary
weapons, as well as to introduce improved
materials, formulations, methods and
technical means of decontamination.[1][5]
As of 2019, the commander of the NBC
Protection Troops is Lieutenant General
Igor Kirilov[6]
Hardware
RPM-2 – radiological reconnaissance vehicle
What follows is a partial list as of
November 2018 of military hardware
available to the Russian NBCP troops:[5]
RPO-A Shmel infantry rocket
flamethrower
PMK-4 gas mask
TOS-1 Buratino or TOS-1A Solntsepyok
flamethrower
TOS-2 Tosochka flamethrower
TDA-3 smoke generator on a 3-axle
53501 Kamaz chassis, is designed to
camouflage military facilities
TMS-65 is a specialized chemical
vehicle on Ural-375 undercarriage
RKhM-6 is a chemical reconnaissance
vehicle on a four-axle BTR-80 base
RPM-2 is a radiological reconnaissance
vehicle on a four-axle BTR-80 base
UTM-80 heat engine, designed to clean
other equipment after exposure to NCB
threats
Units
Troops of the RKhBZ of the Russian army, parked at exercises
TDA-3 unit. An exercise in the Kursk region for the 27th separate brigade of the RKhBZ to eliminate the consequences of
chemical contamination.
1st Mobile NBC Protection Brigade
(Shikhany-2, Oblast of Saratov) (MUN
71432, Central Military District)
16th NBC Protection Brigade
(Lesozavodsk) (MUN 07059, Eastern
Military District)
27th NBC Protection Brigade (Kursk)
(MUN 11262, Western Military District)
28th NBC Protection Brigade (Kamyshin,
Volgograd Oblast) (MUN 65363,
Southern Military District)
29th NBC Protection Brigade
(Yekaterinburg) (MUN 34081, Central
Military District)
2nd NBC Protection Regiment
(Chapayevsk) (MUN 18664, 2nd Guards
Combined Arms Army)
4th NBC Protection Regiment
(Sevastopol) (MUN 86862)
6th NBC Protection Regiment
(Sapyornoye, Leningrad Oblast,
Priozersky District) (MUN 12086, 6th
Combined Arms Army))
9th NBC Protection Regiment
(Shikhany), (MUN 29753)
10th NBC Protection Regiment
(Topchikha) (MUN 55121, 41st
Combined Arms Army)
17th NBC Protection Regiment
(Krasnodar Krai) (49th Combined Arms
Army)
19th NBC Protection Regiment (Gorny,
Zabaykalsky Krai) (MUN 56313, 29th
Combined Arms Army)
20th NBC Protection Regiment
(Tsentralny, Volodarsky District) (MUN
12102, 1st Guards Tank Army)
24th NBC Protection Battalion (20th
Guards Combined Arms Army)
25th NBC Protection Regiment
(Sergeyevka, Pogranichny District) (MUN
58079, 5th Combined Arms Army)
26th NBC Protection Regiment
(Onokhoy) (MUN 62563, 36th Combined
Arms Army)
35th NBC Protection Regiment
(Belogorsk, Amur Oblast) (MUN 59792,
35th Combined Arms Army)
39th NBC Protection Regiment
(Oktyabrsky, Kalachovsky District,
Volgograd Oblast) (MUN 16390, 8th
Guards Combined Arms Army)
40th NBC Protection Regiment
(Troitskaya, Ingushetia, Republic of
Ingushetia) (MUN 16383, 58th
Combined Arms Army)
70th Separate Flamethrower Battalion
(Razdolnoye, Primorsky Krai) (MUN
41474)
Videogallery
1:03
TOS-1A Solntsepyok combat firing; 20th NBC
Protection Regiment
1:05
TOS-1A Solntsepyok combat firing; 6th NBC
Protection Regiment
See also
NBC Protection Military Academy
Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit
2nd Dragoon Regiment (France)
United States Army CBRN School
Chemical Corps
References
This article incorporates text (http://e
ng.mil.ru/en/structure/forces/ground/struct
ure/rhbz.htm) by Ministry of Defence of the
Russian Federation available under the CC
BY 4.0 license.
1. "NBC Protection Troops" (http://eng.mil.ru/
en/structure/forces/ground/structure/rhb
z.htm) . Ministry of Defence of the Russian
Federation. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
2. Feskov et al. 2013, p. 306.
3. Zhores Medvedev: The Legacy of Chernobyl
(https://books.google.com/books?id=PKzjs
nd4dPwC&dq=%22Vladimir+Pikalov%22&p
g=PA49)
4. Feskov et al. 2013, p. 308.
5. "Russian NBC troops armed with new
hardware | November 2018 Global Defense
Security army news industry | Defense
Security global news industry army 2018 |
Archive News year" (https://www.armyreco
gnition.com/november_2018_global_defen
se_security_army_news_industry/russian_n
cb_troops_armed_with_new_hardware.htm
l) .
6. Kocharyan, Stepan (11 March 2019).
"Russian NBC Protection Troops
commander in Armenia on working visit" (ht
tps://armenpress.am/eng/news/967049) .
ArmenPress. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
Feskov, V.I.; Golikov, V.I.; Kalashnikov,
K.A.; Slugin, S.A. (2013). Вооруженные
силы СССР после Второй Мировой
войны: от Красной Армии к Советской
(http://vital.lib.tsu.ru/vital/access/mana
ger/Repository/vtls:000479812?f0=sm_
creator%3A%22%D0%93%D0%BE%D0%B
B%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%2
C+%D0%92%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%
D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B9+%D0%98%D0%
B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%
D0%B8%D1%87%22) [The Armed Forces
of the USSR after World War II: From the
Red Army to the Soviet: Part 1 Land
Forces] (in Russian). Tomsk: Scientific
and Technical Literature Publishing.
ISBN 9785895035306.
External links
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