The RS-28 Sarmat (,
named after the
Sarmatians
The Sarmatians (; grc, Σαρμαται, Sarmatai; Latin: ) were a large confederation of ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples of classical antiquity who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th cen ...
;
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform man ...
: SS-X-29 or SS-X-30
), known as "Satan II", is a Russian
liquid-fueled,
MIRV
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...
-equipped
super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapo ...
(ICBM) produced by the
Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau
The JSC Makeyev Design Bureau (russian: ГРЦ Макеева; also known as Makeyev OKB) is a Russian missile design company located in Miass, Russia.
Established in December 1947 as SKB-385 in Zlatoust (see Zlatoust Machine-Building Plant), ...
since 2009.
It is intended to replace the
R-36M ICBM (SS-18 'Satan') in Russia's
arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
.
The ''Sarmat'' is one of six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian president
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
on 1 March 2018. The RS-28 Sarmat made its first test flight on 20 April 2022, and as of December 2021, the Russian government expected the missile to enter service in 2022. On 16 August 2022, a state contract was signed for the manufacture and supply of the Sarmat strategic missile system.
[
]
History
In February 2014, a Russian military official announced the ''Sarmat'' was expected to be ready for deployment around 2020. In May 2014 another official source suggested that the program was being accelerated, and that it would, in his opinion, constitute up to 100 percent of Russia's fixed land-based nuclear arsenal by 2021.
In late June 2015, it was reported that the production schedule for the first prototype of the ''Sarmat'' was slipping.
The RS-28 Sarmat was expected to become operational in 2016.
On 10 August 2016, Russia successfully tested the RS-28's first-stage engine named PDU-99.
In early 2017, prototype missiles had been reportedly built and delivered to Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...
for trials, but the test program was delayed to re-check key hardware components before initial launch.
In early 2017, according to the commander of the Russian Strategic Forces Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev, the RS-28 Sarmat would be deployed with the 13th Red Banner Rocket Division of the 31st Missile Army at Dombarovsky Air Base, Orenburg Oblast
Orenburg Oblast (russian: Оренбургская область, ''Orenburgskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Orenburg. From 1938 to 1957, it bore the name ''Chkalov Oblast'' () ...
, and with the 62nd Red Banner Rocket Division of the 33rd Guards Rocket Army
33rd Guards Berislav-Khingan Twice Red Banner Order of Suvorov Rocket Army (russian: 33-я гвардейская ракетная Бериславско-Хинганская дважды Краснознамённая, ордена Суворо� ...
at Uzhur
Uzhur (russian: Ужу́р) is a town and the administrative center of Uzhursky District in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located approximately from Krasnoyarsk between Kuznetsk Alatau and Solgon mountain ranges where the Chernavka River flows i ...
, Krasnoyarsk Krai
Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Si ...
, replacing the previous R-36M ICBMs currently located there.
In late December 2017, the first successful launch test of the missile was carried out at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 ...
in Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solo ...
. According to the report, the missile flew several dozen kilometers and fell within the test range.
On 1 March 2018, Russian president Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
, in his annual address to the Federal Assembly, said that "the active phase of tests" of the missile had begun.[Russia begins tests of promising Sarmat missile complex](_blank)
TASS, 2 March 2018. Shortly after, an anonymous military source was cited as saying that the 2007 information about the Sarmat missile had been leaked to the West deliberately. On 30 March 2018, the Russian Defence Ministry published a video showing the ''Sarmat'' performing its second successful test-launch at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
On 24 December 2019, during the exhibition of the modern weapon systems at the National Defense Management Center, it was reported that ''Sarmat'' is capable of a "35,000 km sub-orbital
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital re ...
flight". The trials of the "missile complex" were expected to be completed in 2021, and, during the 2020–2027 period, "twenty missile regiments are planned to be rearmed with the RS-28".
On 20 April 2022, according to the Russian Defense Ministry: After the test, on 22 May, Roscosmos
The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...
head Dmitri Rogozin
Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin (russian: link=no, Дми́трий Оле́гович Рого́зин; born 21 December 1963) is a Russian politician who served as director general of Roscosmos from 2018 to July 2022. He previously served as deputy p ...
warned that 50 new Satan II/RS-28 Sarmat/SS-X-30 intercontinental nuclear missiles will soon be combat ready.
The first contract for the production of the missiles was signed in August 2022.
Design
The RS-28 Sarmat will be capable of carrying about 10 tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s of payload, for either up to 10 heavy or 15 light MIRV
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Expl ...
s, and up to 24 Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle
Hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is a type of warhead for ballistic missile that can maneuver and glide at hypersonic speed. It is used on ballistic missiles to significantly change their trajectories. Conventional ballistic missiles follow a predi ...
s (HGVs) or a combination of warheads and several countermeasure
A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept, it implies precision and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process. The fi ...
s against anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajec ...
systems. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the missile is Russia's response to the U.S. Prompt Global Strike
Prompt Global Strike (PGS) is a United States military effort to develop a system that can deliver a precision-guided conventional weapon airstrike anywhere in the world within one hour, in a similar manner to a nuclear ICBM. Such a weapon wou ...
system.
Sarmat has a short boost phase, which shortens the interval when it can be tracked by satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioiso ...
s with infrared sensors, such as the U.S. Space-Based Infrared System
The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a United States Space Force system intended to meet the United States' Department of Defense infrared space surveillance needs through the first two to three decades of the 21st century. The SBIRS prog ...
, making it more difficult to intercept. The Sarmat is able to fly a trajectory over the South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole, Terrestrial South Pole or 90th Parallel South, is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on Earth and lies antipod ...
, completely immune to any current missile defense system, which would require Fractional Orbital Bombardment (FOBS) capability.
According to various sources, RS-28's launch sites are to be equipped with the "''Mozyr''" active protection system, designed to negate a potential adversary's first strike advantage by discharging a cloud of metal arrows or balls kinetically destroying incoming bombs, cruise missiles and ICBM warheads at altitudes of up to 6 km.
See also
* RS-24 Yars
The RS-24 Yars (РС-24 Ярс– ракета стратегическая (strategic missile)) - modification 24) also known as RT-24 Yars or Topol'-MR (russian: PC-24 «Ярс», NATO reporting name: SS-29 or SS-27 Mod 2) is a Russian MIRV-e ...
* RS-26 Rubezh
The RS-26 Rubezh (in Russian language, Russian: ''РС-26 Рубеж'') (''frontier'' or ''boundary'', also known under the name of its research and development, R&D program Avangard (hypersonic glide vehicle), Avangard ''Авангард'') SS-X- ...
* R-36 (missile)
The R-36 (russian: Р-36) is a family of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and space launch vehicles ( Tsyklon) designed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The original R-36 was deployed under the GRAU index 8K67 and was given ...
* UR-100N
The UR-100N, also known as RS-18A is an intercontinental ballistic missile in service with Soviet and Russian Strategic Missile Troops. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto and carries the industry designation 15A30.
Deve ...
* RT-2PM Topol
* RT-2PM2 Topol-M
The RT-2PM2 «Topol-M» (russian: РТ-2ПМ2 «Тополь-М», NATO reporting name: SS-27 "Sickle B", other designations: SS-27 Mod 1, RS-12M1, RS-12M2, formerly incorrectly RT-2UTTKh) is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missi ...
* LGM-30 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and ...
* Agni-VI
* DF-5
The Dongfeng 5 () or DF-5 is a second-generation multistage rocket, two stage Chinese intercontinental ballistic missile. It has a length of 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 12,00 ...
* DF-41
The Dongfeng-41 (DF-41, CSS-20) () is a fourth-generation Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile operated by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (formerly the Second Artillery Corps). DF-41 is the fourth and ...
References
External links
RS-28
*
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Nuclear missiles of Russia
Intercontinental ballistic missiles of Russia
Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau
Post–Cold War weapons of Russia
MIRV capable missiles