Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the first heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles "Sarmat" will take up combat duty at the end of this year.

“Successful testing of the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile has been carried out.

It is planned that at the end of the year the first such complex will be on combat duty, ”Putin announced at a meeting with graduates of higher military educational institutions.

In April, after the launch of the Sarmat rocket at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, the Russian leader congratulated the military on a successful test and stressed that this was “a big, significant event in the development of promising weapons systems for the Russian army.”

“The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is able to overcome all modern means of anti-missile defense.

It has no analogues in the world and will not be for a long time.

This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of frenzied, aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin

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  • © Kremlin Pool

As the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported, the tasks of launching the Sarmat missile were completed in full, and the design characteristics were confirmed at all stages of its flight.

“Training warheads arrived in a given area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Flight tests of a promising heavy-class missile with a multiple reentry vehicle made it possible to assess the correctness of the schematic design and technical solutions laid down during the creation of the Sarmat missile system, the department noted.

A week after the launch, the general director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, on the air of the Solovyov LIVE program, announced that the corporation would build 46 Sarmat strategic combat systems.

In May, Rogozin spoke about the destructive power of these weapons, noting that they could destroy "half of the coast of a continent" that Russia "would not like".

"It has unique characteristics"

Recall that the RS-28 Sarmat missile was developed at the State Missile Center named after V.P.

Makeev to replace the Soviet intercontinental missile R-36M2 "Voevoda".

The exact technical characteristics of the Sarmat are unknown.

However, according to open sources, the rocket weighs about 200 tons, the payload being thrown is up to 10 tons, which this weapon can deliver to anywhere in the world along a ballistic trajectory through the North or South Poles.

In addition to warheads with a capacity of approximately 750 kt, the Sarmat can also carry the Avangard hypersonic glide blocks, which have a speed of Mach 27.

In addition, the "Sarmat" hosts the latest systems to overcome missile defense.

"Sarmat" surpasses the "Voevoda" missile in many respects, in particular in terms of flight range: 18,000 km versus 11,000 km.

“The new missile is capable of hitting targets at long ranges using various flight paths.

"Sarmat" has unique characteristics that allow it to be guaranteed to overcome any existing and future missile defense systems, ”the Ministry of Defense said.

  • The building of the Ministry of Defense of Russia

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  • © Aleksey Ivanov/ TV Zvezda

The ministry also stressed that the Sarmat is the most powerful missile with the world's longest range of hitting targets, capable of significantly enhancing the combat power of Russia's strategic nuclear forces.

The fact that the first regiment of intercontinental ballistic missiles "Sarmat" will take up combat duty by the end of 2022, the Ministry of Defense reported back in January.

“In the Uzhursky missile formation, located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, work has been launched to prepare the head missile regiment for re-equipment with the new Sarmat missile system.

For these purposes, the appropriate infrastructure is being prepared in the re-equipped regiment, ”the ministry said.

The Ministry of Defense also announced that the Sarmat would replace the Voyevoda heavy-class missile system, which would be phased out of the Strategic Missile Forces.

“In a few years, the Strategic Missile Forces will cross the line beyond which obsolete Soviet-made missile systems will not remain in combat strength,” the military department noted.

As the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergey Karakaev explained on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel, the acceleration of the latest Sarmat ICBM is 1.5 times shorter than that of the Voevoda missile.

According to him, the smaller the active section of the trajectory, the higher the security of the missile system.

"Cool hot heads"

According to military expert Yuri Knutov, the Russian president's statement about the Sarmat complexes entering combat duty at the end of the year should be considered in the context of "voices from the West about the possibility of a nuclear strike against Russia."

“Unfortunately, recently such aggressive theses have been heard more and more often from representatives of Western countries.

Such statements are irresponsible.

Russia, on the other hand, has repeatedly stated that it possesses nuclear weapons, but does not intend to use them without a direct threat to its security.

Against the backdrop of bravura statements from NATO states, Moscow decided to remind that it has the most powerful missiles in the world, and thereby cool hot heads, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

In addition, Knutov believes that with his reminder that Russia has "Sarmatov" Vladimir Putin "sends a signal" to Western partners that it is "naive" for them to even think about a nuclear strike on the Russian Federation.

“Given the imminent adoption of these heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles, such an attack is fraught with a powerful retaliatory strike that none of the countries of the NATO bloc can repel today.

And the reminder of the President of Russia is not a threat, but a desire to reason with those in the West who are trying to put pressure on the Russian Federation by demonstrating a nuclear map.

But the presence of Sarmat missiles on combat duty will have a sobering effect on the West, ”the analyst noted.

In a RT commentary, an expert from the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, Nikolai Kostikin, said that the announcement by the political leadership of Russia that the Sarmat complexes were put on combat duty indicates a determination to preserve the sovereignty of the state and achieve goals to ensure its security.

“This also suggests that Russian technologies allow Moscow to pursue its political course without regard to any blocs, including NATO in the first place,” the expert said.

"No one dares attack"

As Yury Knutov explained, due to the fact that the Sarmat rocket is able to overcome the section from the mine to the spacewalk at a very high speed, it cannot be intercepted by missile defense.

“The American anti-missiles will not have time to react.

To date, funds that are ready to respond to such goals do not exist.

A missile equipped with Avangard hypersonic units is capable of overcoming any missile defense system and hitting any enemy targets at any range, regardless of where these targets are located, ”said the analyst.

  • Launch of a heavy intercontinental ballistic missile "Sarmat" in 2018

  • © Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Knutov is sure that the Russian Federation has every opportunity to put Sarmat missiles on combat duty by the end of the year.

“Russia will use all its capacities that it can use to ensure that the Sarmatians become part of the Russian army as soon as possible and replace the Voyevoda.

This will happen as quickly as possible, ”the analyst noted.

In turn, Nikolai Kostikin said that Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles would become an even stronger guarantee of Russia's security and sovereignty.

“No one will dare to attack a country that has such a new and powerful weapon.

An enemy state in the event of an attack can be fatally damaged.

Nobody dares to do it.

Now Russia is in a situation where, against the backdrop of a special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the NATO bloc does not go into a direct clash with the Russian side only because of fears of Moscow using nuclear weapons.

This holds back the alliance, although it supplies Kyiv with weapons, ”the expert concluded.