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Exercise Zapad-81 (Russian: Запад-81, lit. 'West-81') was the largest military exercise ever to be carried out by the Soviet Union, according to NATO and US sources.[1] It was conducted from 4 September 1981 and lasted approximately eight days, it involved between 100,000 and 150,000 troops. It was a joint operation including elements from all Soviet service branches and introduced several new systems such as the RSD-10 medium-range strategic missile (known often to the West as the SS-20 Saber) and the Project 1143 aircraft carrier Kiev.