Russia is warning that
new tests of its deadly hypersonic Satan-2 missile are imminent and on the
brink of going into ‘serial production.’
Vladimir Putin’s space
chief Dmitry Rogozin has been seen inspecting the giant weapon as it was taken
into a forest by rail.
‘The world’s most powerful
global-range nuclear-tipped missile is being prepared for new tests and serial
production,’ said Mr Rogozin.
Last month he said the
doomsday weapon, also called Sarmat, was already in mass production.
Russian state TV and
politicians have regularly suggested deploying the missile during the Ukraine
crisis.
The Roscosmos chief recently
visited the Krasmash defence plant in Krasnoyarsk, in eastern Siberia, to
inspect the process of producing Sarmat for flight tests.
The first and so far only test
launch of a silo-based Satan-2 was on 20 April from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in
northern Russia. Despite this, Russia is committed to commissioning the missile
with the country’s strategic rocket forces by the end of the year.
In April, close Putin ally Mr
Rogozin said there would be ‘a few more tests to prove the system’s compliance with the technical parameters set by the chief client – the Defence Ministry’.
He has also said it would be
commissioned no later than autumn which suggests there will be several upcoming
tests.
Mr Rogozin has said the
hypersonic 208-ton 15,880mph missile is ‘on schedule’.
The weapon is about the size
of a 14-storey tower block and Mr Rogozin has said that Satan-2 is far
ahead of anything the West has.
He said recently: ‘As for
technical performance, what they have in their arsenal certainly lags behind
what we have.
‘They lag especially far
behind in terms of the designed capabilities of our Sarmat heavy
intercontinental ballistic missile, which have been confirmed in the first test
launch.’
The space chief also claimed
that when he was at the production facility of the missile, which he called the
‘Doomsday Plant’, he was at the ‘safest place in the world’.
‘We are standing under the
cover of the formidable Sarmat, created with great love and respect by our
military factories and assembled at Krasmash to continue its flight design
tests.
‘This is the safest place on
Earth.’
Putin has said the missile
would ensure Russia’s security and make ‘those fierce people who are trying to
threaten it’ think twice.
There would be ‘no analogues
to this weapon in the world for a long time to come’.
After the April launch, Mr
Rogozin highlighted a 26ft deep crater made at the Kura test site by the
missile without a nuclear warhead.
‘With a nuclear charge, such a
crater at an enemy site will be…well, very large and very deep – and
radioactive.
‘And not just one, but exactly
as many as the most powerful nuclear missile in the world will deliver to the
territory of a fierce enemy.
‘And we will soon have almost
50 such Sarmats (the missile is called Satan-2 in the West) on combat duty.
‘It remains only to advise the
aggressors to talk more politely with Russia.’
Mr Rogozin himself has
previously threatened to unleash Sarmat on the West.
He mocked an alleged report
that Boris Johnson had threatened to deploy Britain’s nuclear missiles without
consulting NATO.
Mr Rogozin threatened: ‘Boris,
if ‘Sarmat’ is used, none of you will ‘consult with each other’.
‘And there will be no one to
style your hair, Mr. Prime Minister.’
