Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia has successfully tested the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, saying the weapon capable of carrying nuclear charges will make Kremlin's enemies "think twice."
The Sarmat, dubbed Satan 2 by Western analysts, is among Russia's next-generation missiles that Mr Putin has called "invincible," and which also include the Kinzhal and Avangard hypersonic missiles.
Last month, Russia said it used Kinzhal for the first time in warfare to strike a target in Ukraine, .
"I congratulate you on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile," Mr Putin told the army in televised remarks on Wednesday.
"This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure the security of Russia from external threats and make those who, in the heat of aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country, think twice," Mr Putin said.
He was shown on television being told by the military that the missile had been launched from Plesetsk in the country's northwest and hit targets in the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.
The Sarmat has been under development for years and so its test-launch is not a surprise for the West, but it comes at a moment of extreme geopolitical tension over the war in Ukraine.
Russia's nuclear forces will start taking delivery of the new missile "in the autumn of this year" once testing is complete, Russian news agency TASS quoted Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, as saying on Wednesday.
Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the launch was an important milestone after years of delays caused by funding issues and design challenges.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watches the test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region via video link, in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 20 April 2022. Credit: Mikhail Klimentyev
Mr Barrie said the Sarmat's ability to carry 10 or more warheads and decoys, and Russia's option of firing it over either of the Earth's poles, posed a challenge to ground and satellite-based radar and tracking systems.
The Pentagon said the test was not seen as threatening to the United States and its allies.
Moscow "properly notified" Washington of the test following its obligations under the 2011 New START treaty, which placed limits on the two countries' nuclear weapons, said US Department of Defence spokesman John Kirby.
"Testing is routine, and it was not a surprise," Mr Kirby told reporters.
The Pentagon "has not deemed the test to be a threat to the United States or its allies," he told reporters.
Symbolic timing
Jack Watling of the RUSI think-tank in London said there was an element of posturing and symbolism involved, eight weeks into the war in Ukraine and less than three weeks before the annual Victory Day parade where Russia shows off its latest weapons.
"The timing of the test reflects the Russians wanting to have something to show as a technological achievement in the lead-up to Victory Day, at a time when a lot of their technology has not delivered the results they would have liked," he said.
Launching the invasion on 24 February, Mr Putin made a pointed reference to Russia's nuclear forces and warned the West that any attempt to get in its way "will lead you to such consequences that you have never encountered in your history."
Days later, he ordered Russia's nuclear forces to be put on high alert. "The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last month.
Russia's defence ministry said the Sarmat was fired from a silo launcher at 1512 Moscow local time (10.12pm AEST) and the training warheads reached a test range on Kamchatka, nearly 6,000 kilometres away in the Pacific.
Igor Korotchenko, editor in chief of Russia's National Defence magazine, told RIA news agency it was a signal to the West that Moscow was capable of meting out "crushing retribution that will put an end to the history of any country that has encroached on the security of Russia and its people".
