In a video, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed the shot took place on April 20, 2022 at 3:12 p.m. (2:12 p.m. Paris time) from the Plesetsk launch pad in the Arkhangelsk region of northwestern Russia. HANDOUT / AFP
The Russian army announced on Wednesday, April 20, the first successful test firing of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. This new-generation, very long-range weapon was presented as unprecedented by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is truly a unique weapon that will increase the military potential of our armed forces, protect Russia from external threats and make those who try to threaten our country with wild and aggressive rhetoric think twice,” the Kremlin chief said. He also clarified that “only assemblies, components and parts of national manufacture were used for the creation of Sarmat”.
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The Pentagon responded hours later by assuring Wednesday’s firing was a “routine” test and not a “threat” to the United States or its allies. Moscow has “duly informed Washington that this test is being conducted,” in accordance with its obligations under the nuclear treaties, and its spokesman John Kirby assured the US Department of Defense that it was therefore no “surprise.”
The research and development program for this new system began about fifteen years ago. At the end of 2021, the Russian news agency TASS, citing a military source, announced that the Sarmat test program had been “adjusted” and that in 2021 only one launch would finally take place – instead of two – then the five more were planned for 2022.
It is shown to be able to evade air defenses
In a video, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the shot took place at 15:12 (14:12 Paris time) from the Plesetsk launch pad in the Arkhangelsk region of northwestern Russia. As expected, the missile hit a target at the Kura military field, more than 5,000 kilometers away, on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East, according to this source. “After the end of the test program, the Sarmat will join the Russian Strategic Armed Forces,” Konashenkov added. “Strategic” forces, in their broad definition, intervene particularly in the event of nuclear war.
The Sarmat bears the name of a nomadic people who lived in ancient times around the Black Sea between what is now Russia and Ukraine. According to Vladimir Putin, this missile is capable of “outsmarting all modern anti-aircraft systems.” Weighing over 200 tons, the Sarmat is expected to surpass its predecessor – the Voevoda missile with a range of 11,000 kilometers and codenamed “Satan” in the West.
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In 2019, Mr Putin claimed that the Sarmat had “virtually no range limitation” and was capable of “aiming at targets crossing both the North Pole and the South Pole”. The Russian president also said on Wednesday that the Sarmat is capable of “tricking all modern anti-aircraft systems.”
This missile is also regularly mentioned for its ability to carry a dozen nuclear warheads. In an April 2018 note, the Foundation for Strategic Research wrote that due to the guidance system the Sarmat is intended to use, “the missile’s accuracy should be very high (less than 10 meters) when well connected to maneuvering heads”.
This weapon is part of a series of other missiles presented by the Kremlin chief as invincible in 2018, including the Kinjal and Avangard hypersonic missiles. In April 2021, Vladimir Putin planned a first regiment to be fully armed with Sarmat ICBMs by the end of 2022.
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