Russia tests new nuclear-capable ICBM, which Putin boasts as world’s ‘most powerful’ |
MOSCOW — Russia will deploy its new Sarmat strategic nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile at the end of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his forces tested it on Tuesday, describing the missile as “the most powerful in the world.”
The planned deployment of the missile — designed to deliver nuclear warheads to strike targets thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe — follows years of setbacks and delays.
Putin, in televised comments, said the yield of the warhead was more than four times greater than any Western equivalent and its range exceeded 35,000 km (21,750 miles).
Sarmat, referred to as “Satan II” in NATO designation, is the first ICBM produced in post-Soviet Russia to be classed as “super heavy.”
“It has the ability to penetrate all existing and future anti-missile defense systems,” Putin said Tuesday.
“This is the most powerful missile system in the world,” he boasted.
Western security analysts say Putin has made exaggerated claims for the capabilities of some of Russia’s new generation of nuclear weapons, part of a modernization program he first announced in 2018.
Sarmat has seen failures in the past — one test in September 2024 left a deep crater at the launch silo, according to Western........