Russia tested most deadly nuke-missile
After postponed several times, a ejection test of the Sarmat (SS-X-30) took place at Plesetsk on Wednesday.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 12.8px Arial; color: #222222; -webkit-text-stroke: #222222; background-color: #ffffff}p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; line-height: 15.0px; font: 12.8px Arial; color: #222222; -webkit-text-stroke: #222222; background-color: #ffffff; min-height: 15.0px}span.s1 {font-kerning: none}
Russia’s new super-heavy thermonuclear armed ballistic missile is one step closer to deployment. The missile is a core part of the ongoing modernization program for the silo-based ballistic missile forces, one of the most costly legs of the country’s rearmament program.
The test is so far not officially reported by the Defense Ministry’s portal, but a brief note in Moskovsky Komsomolets refers to the test taking place at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk region on Wednesday. The test is said to be successful.
A so called ejection test is not a full launch, but limits the firing to the first stage engine. Moskovsky Komsomolets writes that the missile flew «several dozen kilometers.»
The Sarmat missile, by NATO also named Satan-2, can reportedly carry a payload of about 10 tons allowing for up to ten heavy nuclear warheads, or 15 lighter ones with yields ranging from 150 kt to 1 Mt. Like the submarine based missile Bulava, also the Sarmat is said by Russian officials to be able to penetrate any American anti-ballistic missile systems, the military TV channel Zvezda reports.
The new missile will when deployed replace today’s R-36M (by NATO named SS-18 or Satan) silo-based ballistic missiles. Sarmat has maximum range of 16,000 kilometers.
