Sarmat ICBM Can be Equipped with Several Avangard Hypersonic Warheads

Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can be equipped with several Avangard hypersonic warheads, a top official revealed today.

Sarmat is planned to be put into service this year.

"With the creation of Avangard, a new era has been created - the era of hypersonic weapons. Today, no one in the world (similar complexes - IF) is on combat duty, but we have," Sergei Karakaev, commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), said on Vesti Nedeli program on TV channel "Russia-1" (VGTRK) which aired on Sunday.

"As for the Sarmat, this is a different missile system. It is based on the carrier. It is much more powerful than the Vanguard carrier. And it was created, including for the combat equipment of Avangard, taking into account the fact that their number (Vanguard warheads) at this complex may be greater," Karakaev said.

Sarmat will be able to strike from the side both the north and south poles of the Earth.

On April 20, 2022, the Russian defense ministry announced the first test launch of the stationary-based Sarmat ICBM from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. According to the agency, the launch tasks were completed in full, the design characteristics of the rocket were confirmed at all stages of its flight. Training warheads arrived in a given area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, announced on April 23 that the Sarmat will be put into service no later than the fall of 2022. On the day of Sarmat’s first test launch, Rogozin called it a "gift from NATO."

"The new complex has the highest performance characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern missile defense systems. It has no analogues in the world and will not be for a long time," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 20 after watching the successful test launch of the Sarmat missile via video link.

"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia's security from external threats and make those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think," Putin said at the time.

It was reported that Sarmat missiles would be mass-produced at the Krasmash plant (Krasnoyarsk, Roskosmos Corporation).

The RS-28 "Sarmat" ICBM will replace the world's most powerful silo-based strategic missile RS-20V "Voevoda" (according to NATO classification - SS-18 "Satan") in Uzhurskaya (Krasnoyarsk Territory) and Dombarovskoye (Orenburg Region) divisions of the Strategic Missile Forces.

It was officially reported that Sarmat missiles in the future will become carriers of Avangard hypersonic gliding winged warheads, developing speeds of about Mach 27 (Mach is the speed of sound). Currently, Avangard warheads are being installed on UR-100N UTTKh intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The five-year extension by Moscow and Washington of the strategic offensive arms reduction treaty (START) does not prevent the deployment of new Russian strategic missile systems Avangard and Sarmat, the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces said last December.

The Strategic Missile Forces is a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the main component of its strategic nuclear forces. The Strategic Missile Forces are intended for nuclear deterrence of possible aggression. The basis of the grouping of the Strategic Missile Forces is modern complexes "Yars" in mine and mobile versions. "Yars" is capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 11,000 km, it is equipped with a multiple warhead with maneuvering individual guidance units.