New Delhi: Undergoing stiff resistance from Ukraine in the current war and experiencing harsh sanctions imposed by the West, Russia moved a step ahead and tested its new Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) Sarmat on Wednesday. The Russian President, Vladimir Putin stated that the enemies of the country would “think twice.” Let us take a look at what the missile is capable of and what is the threat to Russia’s adversaries.

Is this the first test of the new ICBM?

After being delayed earlier in 2021, this was the first test of ICBM Sarmat. For some unknown reason, the test was pushed to December 2021 and then to April 2022. On Wednesday, the missile was launched from Plesetsk in North West Russia with the intended target in the Kamchatka peninsula almost 6,000 km away. Reportedly, the missile will have more five launches in 2022 before being inducted into the Russian military. Before the launch, a dummy missile test was done. Besides, computer-simulated missile launches also took place multiple times and some were shared publicly.

Was Russia known to be developing this missile?

It was known that was developing an ICBM to replace the older ones and an announcement was also made regarding this by President Putin in 2018, making his State of the Nation address to the Federal Assembly. 

Putin also stated that the first Regiment fully armed with Sarmat ICBM will be operational by the end of 2022. Before Putin’s announcements, there were reports that Moscow was developing a new ICBM, and photos of the possible design came up front in 2016. It is believed that the actual development has been further back from 2009 to 2011. The tight relations between Russia and the Western Powers are said to have quickened the development.

How is it more advanced than the other Russian ICBM?

Reportedly, the RS-28 Sarmat (NATO name Satan-II) can carry ten or more warheads and decoys and has the ability to fire over either of the earth’s poles with a range of 11,000 to 18,000 km. It is expected to push a significant challenge to the ground-and-satellite-based radar tracking systems of the western powers, particularly the USA.

The Sarmat will be the first Russian missile that will be able to carry smaller hypersonic boost-glide vehicles. These are manoeuvrable and hard to intercept. Some reports say that although the height and weight of ICBM Sarmat are the same as that of older ones, it has more speed and high throw weight. Besides, it is a liquid-fuelled missile as compared to US ICBMs which have moved on to solid fuel systems.

What is Sarmat named after?

According to a report by news agency TASS, the Sarmat is named after nomadic tribes that roamed the steppes of present-day Southern Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan in the early medieval period. Encyclopaedia Britannica defines it as, “Sarmatians were highly developed in horsemanship and warfare.”