First successful test firing of Sarmat, the latest Russian ballistic missile

The Russian military announced on Wednesday the first successful test firing of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new-generation ultra-long-range weapon that President Vladimir Putin has hailed as “unparalleled”. “It is truly a unique weapon that will boost the military potential of our armed forces, keep Russia safe from external threats and make those who try to threaten our country with wild and aggressive rhetoric think twice. “, said Mr. Putin.

“The Sarmat will enter the Russian strategic forces”

“I emphasize that only assemblies, components and parts of national manufacture were used for the creation of Sarmat”, he added, during an announcement broadcast on television. According to Putin, the fifth-generation Sarmat intercontinental heavy ballistic missile is capable of “outsmarting all modern anti-aircraft systems”.

In a video, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the firing took place at 3:12 p.m. (1212 GMT) from the launch pad in Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk region (northwest). ). According to this source, the missile then hit as planned a target on another military ground, that of Kura, on the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka, in the Far East, more than 5,000 kilometers away.

“After the end of the test program, the Sarmat will enter the Russian strategic forces,” Konashenkov added. “Strategic” forces, in their broad definition, are designed in particular to intervene in the event of nuclear war. The Sarmat bears the name of a nomadic people who lived during Antiquity around the Black Sea, between present-day Russia and Ukraine.

Aim for targets while crossing the North Pole

This new weapon is part of a series of other missiles presented in 2018 as “invisible” by Vladimir Putin. Also found there are the hypersonic missiles Kinjal (“dagger”) and Avangard. In March, Moscow claimed to have used the Kinjal against targets in Ukraine for the first time.

Nicknamed the “Satan 2”, this missile is the most powerful and with the longest range in the world: 18,000 km. Theoretically, it could therefore affect the United States. A show of force from Putin to the outside but also to the Russian population for former General Dominique Trinquand, specialist in international relations: “It is at the maximum of what it shows in power: the biggest missile , which goes the farthest, which has ten heads. We can’t do more. It contributes to nuclear deterrence. Putin explains to the Russians that he has something to protect them because he has the most formidable armament ” .

And according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, this successful launch is only the first of a test program… The Pentagon has reacted: this launch is for it “a routine test” and does not constitute any threat.