Russian NBC Protection Troops


The Troops of Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence of the Russian Armed Forces 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.

History

In 1944, the Red Army's Chemical Troops had 19 brigades. After the end of World War II, most of them were disbanded.
General Major Vladimir Pikalov 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. 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 Brigade at Shikhany-2, 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, 28th, and the 29th located in Severodonetsk in the Kyiv Military District.
In 1992, the Chemical Troops within the Russian Armed Forces were renamed the NBC Protection Troops.
Shikhany-2, the military chemical base, and Shikhany-4, the arsenal, are located in Saratov Oblast. Shikhany-4 appears to be the location of the 115th Arsenal of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops.
On 17 December 2024, the Commander of the RKhB Defence Troops, lieutenant general Igor Kirillov, was killed in a bombing in Moscow.

Structure and tasks

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 troops. They often work within a combined arms army. Their main tasks include:
  • 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 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 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.
The NBCP Troops are developing as dual-purpose 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.
The 395th Independent Test Aviation Squadron which supports the NBCP Troops is based at Bagay-Baranovka in Saratov Oblast.

Hardware

What follows is a partial list as of November 2018 of military hardware available to the Russian NBCP troops:

Units

  • 1st Guards Mobile NBC Protection Brigade
  • 16th NBC Protection Brigade
  • 27th NBC Protection Brigade
  • 28th NBC Protection Brigade
  • 29th NBC Protection Brigade
  • 2nd NBC Protection Regiment
  • 4th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 6th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 9th NBC Protection Regiment,
  • 10th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 17th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 19th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 20th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 24th NBC Protection Battalion
  • 25th Guards NBC Protection Regiment
  • 26th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 35th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 39th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 40th NBC Protection Regiment
  • 70th Separate Flamethrower Battalion