The RS-28 Sarmat is a liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile currently under development by Russia.

Development

Designed to replace Russia’s aging SS-18 Satan ICBM, the RS-28 Sarmat began development some time in the 2000s.¹ After awarding production contracts to Makeyev Design Bureau and NPOMash in early 2011, Russia concluded research and development of the Sarmat ICBM on July 21, 2011.² Russia completed its first prototype of the missile in late 2015.³ In December 2017, Russia conducted its first silo ejection test of the Sarmat, which reportedly revealed technical deficiencies with the launch system.⁴ Two subsequent silo ejection tests—on March and May 2018—were apparently successful.⁵ The RS-28 was initially scheduled to enter service in 2018 with 50 missiles on order. After several technical delays, the Sarmat missile is planned to enter service in 2021.⁶

Description

The Sarmat is a three-stage, liquid-fueled missile with a range of 18,000 km and a launch weight of 208.1 metric tons.⁷ The missile is 35.3 meters long and 3 meters in diameter.⁸ Designated a “heavy” ICBM, the Sarmat can carry a 10 ton payload and can load a wide variety of warhead options.⁹ According to Russian media, Sarmat can reportedly load up to 10 large warheads, 16 smaller ones, a combination of warheads and countermeasures, or hypersonic boost-glide vehicles.^{10 11}