Russian President Vladimir Putin has conducted a successful test of the RS-28 Sarmat missile, also known as ‘Satan-2’, showcasing its nuclear capabilities as a demonstration of power towards Western nations.
Weighing in at 208 tonnes and towering as tall as a 14-story building, the ‘Doomsday rocket’ was lauded by Putin as the most formidable missile system globally. Putin announced that the RS-28 Sarmat would be put into active military service by the year’s end.
Putin emphasized that the warhead’s total yield surpasses that of any Western counterpart by more than four times. Notably, the missile can travel on both ballistic and suborbital trajectories, boasting a range exceeding 35,000 kilometers while enhancing its missile defense capabilities twofold. Furthermore, it possesses the capability to bypass existing and future missile defense systems.
Despite this successful test, it marks only the second confirmed test of the missile, raising questions as most new strategic missiles typically undergo numerous tests before deployment.
The RS-28 Sarmat, recognized as the world’s largest missile, has faced delays, with only one previous successful mission recorded in April 2022. In a previous incident in September 2024, the massive hypersonic missile exploded on the launchpad at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, leaving a significant crater.
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