Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that flight tests of the RS-28 Sarmat heavy liquid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will begin this year and will end next year.

After that, the complex will go into service with the Strategic Missile Forces.

Shoigu's words are quoted by the press service of the military department.

"Flight tests (" Sarmat "will begin. -

RT

) this year, should be completed in 2022, and in 2022, our first regiment should enter service with the Strategic Missile Forces," said the head of the Ministry of Defense during a visit to JSC Krasnoyarsk plant "(" Krasmash "), which is preparing for the serial production of ICBMs.

Shoigu examined the shops and heard a report from the enterprise management.

According to the minister, at present Krasmash is ready to fulfill a long-term contract for the supply of the latest Sarmat missiles to the Strategic Missile Forces.

“We have just considered all the issues related to new types of weapons.

We saw how Krasmash is ready to fulfill a long-term contract on one of the most formidable weapons that our country should possess - the Sarmat missile.

We have full confidence that Krasmash will fulfill the assigned tasks, "Shoigu stressed.

As the founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev explained in a comment to RT, the deployment of serial production of the RS-28 is fraught with many difficulties, which are primarily associated with the novelty of technical solutions and the establishment of a complex cooperation chain.

In addition, as the expert recalled, Krasmash had never produced land-based liquid-propellant ICBMs before.

Sarmat is a new generation strategic deterrent weapon.

Plus it is a completely Russian rocket.

Let me remind you that earlier Ukrainian enterprises participated in cooperation on ICBMs.

For obvious reasons, in our time it is impossible, and therefore it was required to find a lot of performers inside the country, to modernize the facilities of Krasmash itself, - said Kornev.

To replace the "Voevoda"

"Sarmat" belongs to the class of strategic liquid-propellant missiles.

This type of weapon has a higher payload volume than solid-propellant ICBMs.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the 200-ton RS-28 is capable of accommodating up to 20 warheads of small, medium and high power classes.

They are capable of striking the enemy from any geographic direction, including from the side of the South Pole.

  • Loading a sample of the Sarmat missile into a silo launcher

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

The head developer of "Sarmat" is JSC "GRTs Makeeva" (Miass, Chelyabinsk region).

In the Strategic Missile Forces, the Russian missile is to replace the R-36M2 Voevoda complex, which was developed in the late 1980s by specialists from the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau (Dnepropetrovsk).

Voevoda is an improved version of the Soviet liquid-propellant missile, which was given the code SS-18 Satan - "Satan" for its colossal energy capabilities in NATO.

This weapon could carry up to 14-16 warheads.

The maximum firing range, depending on the equipment, was estimated at 11-16 thousand km.

"Voivoda" is an improved modification of "Satan", it is a fourth generation rocket with approximately the same characteristics.

But, by and large, the rocket has served its purpose.

Modern Strategic Missile Forces need weapons with the best operational and combat qualities.

Moreover, at least in the past, its service was not complete without the participation of Ukraine, ”says Kornev.

"Sarmat" will be based in silos, where the R-36M2 are currently located.

However, as follows from the statements of officials, these launchers will be upgraded to increase security.

The key advantage of the "Sarmat" is considered its invulnerability to any anti-missile defense systems, including promising complexes.

The RS-28 has a short active section and is equipped with the most modern warheads and missile defense penetration systems.

In particular, with the adoption into service, the Sarmat will become the carrier of the unique hypersonic winged unit Avangard, capable of accelerating up to 27 Machs.

The unit can fly in dense layers of the atmosphere and maneuver several thousand kilometers in different directions and in height.

Avangard was created by the collective of the military-industrial complex NPO Mashinostroyenia (Reutov).

The key role in the development was played by the honorary general director of this enterprise Herbert Efremov.

For outstanding services, Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2020 awarded the scientist the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called with swords.

At the same time, Russian specialists do not stop there.

In April, Aleksandr Leonov, the general director and general designer of the NPO Mashinostroyenia military-industrial complex, said that the company was working on developing a missile defense penetration weapon that would be even more effective than Avangard.

Avangard is a formidable weapon in the arsenal of Sarmat.

The information available today on the Sarmat complex allows us to conclude that the new ICBM is capable of guaranteed fulfillment of the combat missions set by the command, "Kornev noted.

As the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Colonel-General Sergei Karakaev said earlier in an interview with the newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, the 62nd Uzhurskaya Red Banner Missile Division, stationed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, will receive the first samples of the Sarmatians.

At the last stage

The first tests of "Sarmat" were throwing.

They took place at one of the sites of the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region and ended in 2018.

Based on their results, the technology for preparing ICBMs for launch was worked out, the operability of the power plant was checked and the correctness of the implemented circuit design solutions for the launch system and silos was confirmed.

“The throw test of the Sarmat missile is actually a test of its departure from the mine.

A flight test is a flight over a distance of thousands of kilometers.

To start such tests, the propulsion-navigation system must be fully worked out, the work of all systems must be thoroughly verified before flight tests, "military expert Yuri Lyamin explained in a conversation with RT.

According to him, flight tests of the RS-28 are the last stage before the official acceptance of the rocket into service and the launch of its serial production.

  • Test launch of ICBMs from the Plesetsk cosmodrome site

  • RIA News

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

At this stage, the military and developers assess the quality of the ICBM launch, the acceleration speed, the effectiveness of the separation of the payload and the separation of warheads, as well as the accuracy of hitting targets.

Flight tests reveal errors made during development work, says Lyamin. 

“Three years have passed between the throwing and flight tests.

This is not very much, although the terms for “Sarmat” have shifted to the right.

I think that this time was spent, first of all, on establishing industrial cooperation and finalizing new engines, components and on-board systems installed on the rocket, ”the expert believes.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, flight tests will be carried out using a new test site near the village of Severo-Yeniseisky (Krasnoyarsk Territory).

According to the Izvestia newspaper, the Main Military Construction Directorate No. 14, which specializes in the implementation of projects for the needs of the Strategic Missile Forces, has been entrusted with the task of arranging the landfill.

Experts believe that test launches of the Sarmat, like other Russian ICBMs, will be carried out from Plesetsk or from the deployment sites of the Strategic Missile Forces, now armed with the Voevoda.

Shooting will be carried out in the direction of the Kura training ground located in Kamchatka.

A new site near the Severo-Yeniseyskoye is required to carry out control and measurement activities.

“In all likelihood, there will be radars and optical surveillance equipment that will“ watch ”the process of separation of the warhead.

There was information in the media that launches could be carried out from there, but so far this is unlikely due to the absence of a railway in this place, ”says Kornev.

Experts suggest that the military will conduct two or three test launches of the Sarmat and one launch at the maximum range into the Pacific Ocean.

According to Lyamin, with the adoption of the RS-28, the Russian army will receive a powerful means of strategic deterrence.

In general, the appearance of these ICBMs in the troops will significantly enhance the military security of Russia. 

"Sarmat" will have a very long range, payload, carry a large number of nuclear warheads to overcome missile defense. Of course, the supply of such weapons will play a very important role in strengthening our nuclear missile shield and deterring a potential enemy, "Lyamin summed up.