The Russian Missile Forces have resumed preparations for the launch of the new intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat, postponed due to problems with the carrier. The former Chief of Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces, Viktor Esin, confirms to the newspaper Izvestia the resumption of preparations.
The tests had previously been postponed until the second half of the year. The huge size of the missile required renovation of the silo that was completed last April. The problems encountered, but not revealed, concerned the prototype.
The intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat will replace the R-36M2 system voyevoda in the divisions serving in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in eastern Siberia and in the Orenburg region, in the southern Urals. Super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles (each Sarmat could carry up to fifteen Mirv / Marv warheads) will be deployed to cover possible targets in Uzhur and in the Dombarovsky area. The flight paths to the potential targets will be those above the North Pole and the South Pole.
The test is necessary - added Esin - we must validate the features in a real test so as to avoid unpleasant incidents.
The former Chief of Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces takes as an example what happened with the UR-100 missiles: the latter, already in service, turned out to be unable to hit long-range targets due to the excessive vibration of the hull that destroyed them structure. The country's leadership forgot to test the missile at its maximum range, authorizing the serial production of a system unable to hit the long-range target.
The last stability test for a Russian ballistic missile involved an R-29RMU2 Sineva who traveled to 11.500. Km. Starting from the Barents Sea, the missile reached the area west of Hawaii.
The super-heavy (over one hundred ton) thermonuclear missile, however, will enter service two years late, but by the end of the 2018. Under development from the 2015 in response to the American system Prompt Global Strike, the liquid propellant rocket is intended to replace the entire deterrent line formed by the SS-18 Satan, the world's largest intercontinental solid-propellant ballistic missile ever built and entered into service in the 1967.
Il Sarmat it has an estimated range of over twelve thousand km. It was designed to reach Mach 20 and storm the target by releasing ten heavy (or fifteen light) independent indentation warheads. Probably, when it comes into service it will be equipped exclusively with Marv magazines, practically immune to any sort of existing defensive screen. The Russians intend to replace by the 2025, the 80% of the entire land-based nuclear arsenal with the Sarmat. The new ICBM will be in service with seven regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation.
The United States intends to keep ballistic missiles in service Minuteman III up to the 2030 with a series of updates, even if the Air Force has never hidden the intention to want to develop a new system.
Both the Sarmat the Satan they are more powerful than Minuteman.
(photo: MoD Russian Federation)
