Launch of the Sarmat ICBM | Image: Ministry of Defence, Russian Federation
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had successfully conducted a test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile during a video-conference with Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, according to a Kremlin transcript released on Tuesday.
Colonel General Sergei Karakayev told the president that the missile was launched at 11:15 a.m. and that “The launch was successful. The launch mission has been accomplished.”
According to Colonel General Karakayev, the test confirmed the missile system’s technical performance and design. He said the silo-based Sarmat missile system is intended to replace the Soviet-era Voyevoda system and is being developed by the Academician V. Makeyev State Rocket Centre together with Russian industrial partners.
Colonel General Karakayev stated that “The successful launch results would allow the first missile regiment equipped with the Sarmat system to be placed on combat duty in the Uzhur formation, Krasnoyarsk Territory, by the end of the year.”
He added that the deployment of the system would increase the capabilities of Russia’s land-based strategic nuclear forces.
President Putin linked the development of the missile system to changes in global missile defence arrangements following the withdrawal of the United States from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002.
President Putin said, “However, after the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, we were compelled – and I want to emphasise this, compelled – to reassess how to ensure our strategic security under new conditions and maintain strategic balance and parity.”
The Russian president also referred to other strategic weapons systems that Russia has introduced or developed in recent years, including the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, the Kinzhal air-launched missile system, the Oreshnik medium-range missile system, the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle and the Burevestnik cruise missile.
The Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, reporting the successful test of the Sarmat ICBM to Russian President Vladimir Putin via video-conference | Image: Kremlin
Speaking about the Sarmat missile, President Putin said, “The Sarmat will indeed be placed on combat duty by the end of this year.”
President Putin also described the missile as capable of travelling “not only along a ballistic trajectory, but also along a suborbital one,” adding that it would be able to penetrate existing and future missile defence systems.
The Kremlin transcript did not provide details on the launch location or flight path of the missile. The statements and technical claims made during the conversation could not be independently verified.
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