Russia’s super-advanced hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Sarmat, is capable of wiping out areas the size of England and Wales, according to reports.
The Russian military is all set to conduct multiple tests of this missile (NATO reporting name Satan-2). Having a range of over 18,000 kilometers, this super-advanced ICBM is stated to be part of Russia’s nuclear modernization program announced by President Vladimir Putin in 2018.
Three test launches of this missile called the RS-28 “Sarmat” would be conducted this year, Russian news agency TASS reported.
“The first launch of the Sarmat ICBM within the framework of flight development tests will be carried out tentatively in the third quarter of 2021, a field at the Kura testing range on Kamchatka will be a target,” TASS quoted a Russian defense industry official as saying.
The defense ministry is already purchasing serially produced missiles, it is said.
The best of RS-28 Sarmat
– Sarmat and Satan / Voyevoda heavy ICBMs
– one of jumping test 2018
– loader 15T526 pic.twitter.com/rZoUaFD23N— MilitaryRussia.Ru (@DnKornev) February 11, 2021
All the three launches would be performed from a silo at the Plesetsk space center in northwestern Russia, and that one of the three missiles would be test-fired at their maximum range – a major real-time combat capability test aimed at boosting the Russian morale and confidence in their deterrence abilities.
More trials would be conducted next year, with the first operational missile regiments to be activated by the end of 2022.
RS-28 ‘Sarmat’
The Sarmat is the biggest weapon in Russia’s nuclear arsenal and is among the six new weapons of mass destruction unveiled by President Putin in 2018. The other five missiles are: Avangard, Tsirkon, Poseidon, Kinzhal, and a nuclear-propelled cruise missile.
It weighs 208.1 tons — the payload is close to 10 tons and the fuel is 178 tons. The payload could be up to 10 heavy or 15 light MIRV warheads, an unspecified number of Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) or a combination of warheads and massive amounts of countermeasures against anti-ballistic missile systems. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the missile is Russia’s response to the US Prompt Global Strike system.
It can fly by unpredictable routes and bypass missile defense areas. It can fly over the North and South Pole and approach targets from directions that are not envisaged for interception, TASS reported.
