Russia to test flights of new deadly hypersonic 208-tonne intercontinental missile – World News
Russia has confirmed test flights of the new 208-tonne intercontinental ballistic missile called ‘Satan-2’, will begin this autumn
Image: east2west news)
Russia has confirmed that test flights of the new, deadly, hypersonic 208-tonne ‘Satan-2’ intercontinental ballistic missile are to begin soon.
The missile, capable of travelling speeds of up to 15,880mph, will be one of the deadliest additions in Valdimir Putin’s arsenal of weapons.
Sergei Shoigu, defence minister since 2012, announced: “”Flight tests [will begin] this year and should be completed in 2022.
“In 2022, the first batch should enter service with the strategic missile forces.”
The first tests of the weapon, known in the west as Satan-2 and in Russia as RS-28 Sarmat, will begin “in the autumn” with a second before 2022.
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Image:
EAST2WEST NEWS)
A poster is seen boasting that Satan-2 “does not need a visa” from the West in a new video of the missile.
Russia claims the weapon can deliver 10 tonne warhead to any point in the world, capable of flying over both the North and South poles.
The missile has the capability to use trajectories and unpredictable routes which “substantially impede their destruction even by advanced missile defence systems”, its designers claim.
Mr Shoigu made the announcement as he visited Krasnoyarsk, a city in Siberia, where production of the missile is planned.
He said: “We have seen how Krasmash [the plant where the missiles will be built] is ready to fulfil a long-term contract for one of the most formidable weapons our country must have – the Sarmat missile.
“We have full confidence that Krasmash will fulfil its tasks.”
Head of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, Dimitry Rogozin, also was present for the announcement.
The tests are expected to be launched from an underground silo at a space centre in northwestern Russia, hitting targets on the country’s Pacific coast.
One test is likely to be at a maximum range of 11,200 miles.
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Image:
EAST2WEST NEWS)
Earlier footage shows the hypersonic weapon emerging from its silo and launching into the air
The announcement comes amid growing tensions between Russia and the West.
Around issues like support of Belarus, Afghanistan, and energy dependence in central and eastern Europe, Russia and the West have clashed in proxy.
