It's hard to change plans, especially if you don't really need to. In December 2004, when the government was at the last stages of approving defense spending plans, it pledged to begin deployment of mobile version of the Topol-M missile a year earlier - three missiles were hastily added to the 2005 acquisition plan. But Nikolay Solovtsov, the commander of the Rocket Forces, was reported as saying last week that the first mobile Topol-M regiments will be deployed in 2006, "as was previously planned". Which makes you wonder what was the rush in December?