Russia’s new nuclear missile RS-28 Sarmat (Satan 2) will be deployed soon. Putin has described it as the world’s most powerful missile with a range of 35,000 km. It is capable of penetrating defense systems and launching nuclear attacks on multiple targets simultaneously.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made a big announcement in Moscow on Tuesday. He said that Russia’s most powerful and new nuclear missile, RS-28 Sarmat, will be completely ready by the end of this year. Putin said proudly, ‘This is the most powerful missile in the world.’ This missile was being made for many years, but due to various technical problems and delays, it has now reached its final stage.
The RS-28 Sarmat missile is designed in such a way that it can carry a nuclear bomb and target the target of any country thousands of miles away, including America and Europe. Simply put, this is a huge threat to Russia’s enemies. Putin claims that the nuclear power of this missile is four times more than such missiles of Western countries. He also announced that this missile can cover a distance of more than 35,000 kilometers, i.e. about 21,750 miles. This range makes it one of the longest range missiles in the world.
Putin said that the Sarmat missile has been designed in such a way that it can dodge all existing and future missile defense systems. This means that even the enemy’s defense systems designed to stop incoming missiles will not be able to stop it. However, this missile has not always been successful. According to Western experts, it failed miserably in a test conducted in September 2024 and a large crater was formed at the launch site itself.
Despite past failures, Russian state media reported that military commander Sergei Karakayev had informed Putin that Tuesday’s test of the Sarmat missile was successful. Karakayev said that the inclusion of this missile in the army will greatly increase Russia’s ground nuclear power. This will also strengthen the country’s strategic defense capability and enemies will think a hundred times before attacking Russia.
Ever since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Putin has been constantly reminding the world of his nuclear power. However, Western countries believe that Putin makes such statements so that other countries do not openly help Ukraine. It is a way of threatening the world without direct conflict.
The RS-28 Sarmat, nicknamed ‘Satan 2’ in the Western world, will replace about 40 old Soviet-era ‘Voyevoda’ missiles. Putin says that the new missile is as powerful as the old Voivoda, but is more accurate in hitting targets. Sarmat is part of Russia’s bigger plan, under which weapons are being made that can defeat even the missile defense systems of the future. ‘Avangard’ hypersonic glide vehicle is also one such weapon, which can fly 27 times faster than the speed of sound. It is much faster than any common jet or plane.
The RS-28 Sarmat weighs more than 100 tonnes. It is launched from silos (safe pits) built under the ground so that it remains safe and can surprise the enemy. It has been designed by the famous ‘Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau’. Its biggest feature is that it can carry MIRVs (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicles). If we understand in simple language, a single missile can attack many different targets simultaneously. According to reports, the Sarmat is capable of carrying up to 10 heavy MIRVs, 16 light MIRVs, or up to 24 hypersonic glide vehicles.
Due to its huge size, long range and ability to dodge defense systems, Sarmat is being considered as a strong message from Russia to the world. Now it remains to be seen whether it will really be able to change the global power balance or not.
(Author Girish Linganna is a science writer, defence, aerospace and political analyst based in Bengaluru. He is the Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Germany-based ADD Engineering GmbH.)