Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, said on Tuesday that the new Sarmat nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is being prepared for a series of tests and mass production.
“The world’s most powerful global-range nuclear-tipped missile is being prepared for new tests and serial production,” Rogozin wrote on Telegram.
In early July, the Roscosmos chief inspected the Krasmash plant in the city of Krasnoyarsk in eastern Siberia to check on the efforts to continue testing and ensure that serial production is successfully launched.
In May, he spoke about the Sarmat’s offensive capabilities, saying that “it can demolish half of the coast of some large continent” should a nation decide to take an aggressive stance towards Russia.
The Sarmat ICBM was first successfully test-launched on April 20 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Region. The new missile is expected to enter active combat duty by the end of 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in late June.
The ICBM is set to replace the older Voyevoda systems, also known by the NATO reporting name ‘SS-18 Satan’. According to earlier statement from Rogozin, the Sarmat, dubbed the ‘Satan 2’, is the most powerful missile of its class in terms of range and warheads, and is designed to be “invincible” to all existing air defenses.