MOSCOW, December 25 (Sputnik) – Russia will deploy its new silo-based heavy ballistic Sarmat missiles in the Orenburg Region and Krasnoyarsk Territory, Strategic Missile Forces Commander Col.Gen. Sergei Karakayev said Thursday.
The 100-ton Sarmat ICBM with an operational range of no less than 5,500 kilometers (over 3,400 miles) is to replace the military’s current SS-18 Satan ICBMs between 2018 and 2020.
The new ICBM's operational and physical characteristics are classified, and its components are currently being tested. Only Russian enterprises are involved in the production of the missiles.
The SS-18 Satan missiles introduced in 1975 were the first Soviet-made multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle missiles. The silo-housed and highly accurate missiles are believed to pose a serious threat to US land-based strategic missile systems.
