Designed to “outsmart all modern anti-aircraft systems”, this exclusively Russian-made missile could be even more efficient than its predecessor, the Voevoda, according to Vladimir Putin.
The Russian military on Wednesday (April 20th) announced the first successful test firing of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a next-generation ultra-long-range weapon that President Vladimir Putin hailed as “without equivalent“. A “routine test“, for the Pentagon, which estimated that this Russian shooting was “not a threat“.
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“It is truly a unique weapon which will enhance the military potential of our armed forces, which will keep Russia safe from external threats and which will make those who try to threaten our country with unbridled and aggressive rhetoric think twice.“, declared Vladimir Putin, during an announcement broadcast on television.
“Outsmarting all modern anti-aircraft systems»
“I emphasize that only assemblies, components and parts of domestic manufacture were used for the creation of the Sarmat“, he added, during an announcement broadcast on television. According to Vladimir Putin, the fifth-generation Sarmat intercontinental heavy ballistic missile is capable of “outmaneuver all modern anti-aircraft systems“.
This weapon is part of a series of other missiles presented in 2018 as “invincibleby Vladimir Putin. These include the Kinjal and Avangard hypersonic missiles. In March, Moscow claimed to have used the Kinjal against targets in Ukraine for the first time.
No “surprise» for USA
The Pentagon reacted in the afternoon, assuring that this missile launch was a test of “routine» and did not constitute «not a threatfor the United States or its allies. Moscow hassuitably informedWashington of carrying out this test, in accordance with its obligations under the nuclear treaties, and it was therefore not a question of “surprisefor the US Department of Defense, added its spokesman John Kirby.
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Weighing over 200 tons, the Sarmat is supposed to outperform its predecessor – the Voevoda missile with a range of 11,000 km. In 2019, Vladimir Putin claimed that Sarmat had “novirtually no range limits» and that he was able to «aim for targets crossing the North Pole like the South Pole“.
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