Russia said on Friday (September 1) that the nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system has been deployed on combat duty.
RIA has given this information quoting Yuri Borisov, the chief general director of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos.
During the ‘Share Your Knowledge’ marathon, Borisov said that ‘the Sarmat strategic complex has been put on combat duty,’ RIA reports.
In April last year, Putin had announced the test launch of the Sarmat missile system.
According to media reports, at the time of the launch, Putin praised the army and said, ‘I congratulate you on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.’
Putin said, ‘This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat capability of our armed forces, ensure Russia’s security from external threats and force those who think twice about threatening our country in the heat of aggressive rhetoric. Let’s try.’
Western analysts have termed the Sarmat missile system as ‘Satan 2’. It is one of Russia’s next generation missiles which Putin has called ‘invincible’ and also includes the Kinzhal and Avangard hypersonic missiles.
Its weight is more than 200 tons. Russia has claimed that the Sarmat can reach an unmatched speed of 16,000 mph and that 10 or more warheads can be deployed on each missile.
With Sarmat, Russia has the option of firing it at any pole of the Earth. This is considered a major challenge for ground and satellite-based radar and tracking systems.
Sarmat’s initial launch phase is reportedly of short duration, giving surveillance systems little time to detect it.
