Sarmat ICBM could be deployed with Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles
The ICBM system is the most powerful in the world and possesses the longest range.
The latest Russian-made Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile could be deployed with several Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles, as revealed by the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Commander Sergei Karakaev on Sunday.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it successfully tested a Sarmat missile from a silo launcher. Design characteristics were confirmed at all stages of flight, according to the ministry.
"Concerning Sarmat, it is another missile system. It is based on a launcher, and it is much more powerful than Avangard's launcher. It has also been designed for Avangard, taking into account that the number [of Avangards] on this system [Sarmat] could be more," Karakaev told Russian broadcaster Rossiya 1.
The training warheads arrived at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula as the characteristics were taken note of.
The commander noted that the Avangards' development brings the age of hypersonic weapons and that there is no country, except for Russia, that possesses this sort of weapon.
The Sarmat ICBM will join the Russian armed forces after testing is finished. The missile, according to the ministry, is capable of hitting long-range targets using numerous flight trajectories; the Sarmat is guaranteed to overcome any existing or possible anti-missile defense systems, given its hypersonic nature.
On April 20, the Russian Armed Forces have successfully conducted the first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Sarmat, within the framework of state trials, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters.
"Today, at 15:12 Moscow time [12:12 GMT], at the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk Region, a Sarmat fixed-based intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from a silo launcher," the Ministry said.
According to Moscow, the launch tasks were completed in full, and design characteristics were confirmed at all stages of its flight. "The training warheads arrived in a planned area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula," it added.
The system is the most powerful in the world and possesses the longest range.