Satan2: Russia announces it has activated the world’s most powerful nuclear missile | Photo: Brochure photo / Russian Ministry of Defense / AFP
The government of Vladimir Putin announced this Friday (1st) the entry into service of probably the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile armed with nuclear warheads in the world, the RS28 Sarmat, informally called “The” in the West Satan2. According to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, Sarmat is “capable of attacking targets at the North and South Poles” and can reach points as far away as the United States and Europe.
According to Red Star, a Russian Defense Ministry publication, exercises already conducted with the missile show its devastating potential. According to BBC reporter Richard Galpin, the Sarmat is being presented as a replacement for the Sovietera Voyevoda missiles (called Satan 1), although it has a much larger capacity than the previous version. The system is believed to have been in development since at least 2011 and weighs around 200 tons.
According to Putin’s account, Sarmat has a greater range than Satan 1, which would allow it to fly over the poles and attack objects anywhere on the planet. It would have a short active flight phase making it more difficult to be intercepted by missile defense systems its range would be longer and it would have more powerful warheads.
The Russian state news agency TASS had already estimated in 2016 that the missile would have a range of more than 11,000 to 18,000 kilometers (the diameter of the Earth is 12,742 kilometers) and that its warheads would weigh more than 100 tons. However, many experts doubted the published data, wondering whether it was real information or whether it was part of the Russian propaganda system.
Other experts’ estimates, based on Russian government data, suggest the missile could carry up to 10 nuclear charges. According to Putin, one of the most important innovations is the ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, which means that individual launches could be made on different targets. “It will be equipped with a wide range of highperformance nuclear warheads, including hypersonic warheads and stateoftheart missile defense penetration systems,” Putin said in early March.
However, many experts considered Putin’s claims to be exaggerated, particularly because they did not take into account possible advances in missile defense technology. However, others believe that the Voyevoda, which has been in existence for years, far surpasses the missile defense mechanisms of the United States.
The Sarmat, a tribute to the Sarmatians, a warrior people who lived from the 3rd century B.C. Dominating the steppes of southern Russia and Ukraine from the 4th century BC to the 4th century AD, is one of the six “invincible weapons” announced by Putin in 2018 of which hypersonic missiles in Kinjal and Tsirkon are already operational, in addition to that of ballistic missiles carried hypersonic glider Avangard. The “Doomsday Torpedo” and a nuclearpowered cruise missile are still in development.
The new rocket is the most advanced and powerful in the world. It is a giant: it is 35.5 m long and 3 m in diameter and can carry 10 to 14 independent nuclear warheads weighing between 350 kilotons and 800 kilotons (each 23 to 53 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb), and meanwhile there are several estimated up to 16 weaponcapable hypersonic gliders.
This data was made available by the government in 2019 at the annual Moscow military exhibition. Sarmat’s range, which is also unfathomable until utilized, gives opponents a more concrete cause for concern. With a announced range of up to 18,000 km, it could reach destinations in virtually any area on earth.
For comparison, the US’s only landbased intercontinental ballistic missile, the Minuteman3, is 18.3 m long, 1.7 m in diameter and has a maximum range of 13,000 km. It carries a maximum of three warheads of 350 kilotons each at the moment you have to respect that. Within the limits of the last strategic arms containment treaty suspended by Russia since the beginning of the year, they only carry one bomb.
The New Start Treaty’s current limit of 1,600 strategic warheads for each country was maintained by Moscow despite the suspension. Because analysts assume that there are real difficulties in expanding the Russian arsenal.
The Sarmat is intended to replace the current RS36M in the future, known in the West as the SS18 Satã hence the name Satã2 for the new weapon. Satan is Russia’s main silo missile, but the range of these weapons in the country is more diverse than in the United States or other nuclear powers.
While Washington only uses the Minuteman on the ground and the Trident2 on submarines to remain among its main strategic weapons, Moscow has its 13th operational model in the Sarmat, although many are now obsolete, a legacy of the Soviet Union. But the Russians are using something the U.S. doesn’t have: mobile launchers to exploit the vast distances of the world’s largest country, making it difficult for rivals to detect. (With Folhapress, AFP and agencies)
THE TIME strengthens the commitment to quality, professional and Minas Gerais journalism. Our newsroom produces responsible information every day that you can trust.
Follow THE TIME on Facebook, on Twitter and on Instagram. Help grow our community.