"The launch of the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), using liquid fuel, was successfully completed at noon on May 12, achieving all the set objectives," General Sergey Karakayev, commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
 |
The RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile lifted off from its launch pad on May 12. |
General Karakayev reported to President Putin that the first regiment equipped with Sarmat ICBMs will begin combat duty by the end of this year. This unit belongs to the 62nd Strategic Missile Division, stationed in the city of Uzhur in the Krasnoyarsk region.
"Liquid-fueled ICBMs may sound outdated, but they still have many advantages over solid-fuel missiles," explains Thomas Newdick, editor of the American military website War Zone.
Liquid-fueled engines offer superior thrust and efficiency compared to solid-fuel engines, making them suitable for launching warheads over very long distances or carrying multiple warheads. Missiles using this design also allow for precise engine on/off control and thrust control as required by the mission.
Their main drawback is that they cannot maintain a state of combat readiness for as long as solid fuels.
Liquid rocket fuel consists of propellant and oxidizer, or two components that can cause a combustion reaction when mixed. They are highly volatile and require significant time to load into the rocket before launch. This is considered a "fatal" weakness of liquid-fueled rockets, as the refueling process is the most vulnerable point for detection and attack by the enemy.
"Stable and less corrosive liquid fuels, such as hydrazine-based propellants and nitrogen tetrooxide oxidizers, can help missiles maintain combat readiness for relatively long periods, under certain environmental conditions and with a suitable fuel cell material," Newdick said.
The RS-28 Sarmat is one of six "superweapons" first unveiled by President Putin in 2018.
The Russian military has not disclosed the exact date of the Sarmat project's inception, but state media reports indicate that the development program for this new generation of silo-launched ICBMs began in the 2000s, aiming to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda, which had been in service since 1988 and had become obsolete.
Each Sarmat missile is 35.5 meters long, 3 meters in diameter, and can carry 10-15 independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) with a total yield equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT, along with various decoys to deceive enemy defense systems. Sarmat can also be fitted with Avangard hypersonic warheads or various types of hypersonic glide vehicles in the future.
The missile's propulsion stage operates for a relatively short period, significantly limiting its detectability by satellites equipped with infrared sensors, making interception much more difficult for the enemy. The missile has a range of 18,000 km and is expected to be operational by the end of this year.
"The launch of the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), using liquid fuel, was successfully completed at noon on May 12, achieving all the set objectives," General Sergey Karakayev, commander of Russia's strategic missile forces, said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin today.
General Karakayev reported to President Putin that the first regiment equipped with Sarmat ICBMs will begin combat duty by the end of this year. This unit belongs to the 62nd Strategic Missile Division, stationed in the city of Uzhur in the Krasnoyarsk region.
"Liquid-fueled ICBMs may sound outdated, but they still have many advantages over solid-fuel missiles," explains Thomas Newdick, editor of the American military website War Zone.
Liquid-fueled engines offer superior thrust and efficiency compared to solid-fuel engines, making them suitable for launching warheads over very long distances or carrying multiple warheads. Missiles using this design also allow for precise engine on/off control and thrust control as required by the mission.
Their main drawback is that they cannot maintain a state of combat readiness for as long as solid fuels.
Liquid rocket fuel consists of propellant and oxidizer, or two components that can cause a combustion reaction when mixed. They are highly volatile and require significant time to load into the rocket before launch. This is considered a "fatal" weakness of liquid-fueled rockets, as the refueling process is the most vulnerable point for detection and attack by the enemy.
"Stable and less corrosive liquid fuels, such as hydrazine-based propellants and nitrogen tetrooxide oxidizers, can help missiles maintain combat readiness for relatively long periods, under certain environmental conditions and with a suitable fuel cell material," Newdick said.
The RS-28 Sarmat is one of six "superweapons" first unveiled by President Putin in 2018.
The Russian military has not disclosed the exact date of the Sarmat project's inception, but state media reports indicate that the development program for this new generation of silo-launched ICBMs began in the 2000s, aiming to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda, which had been in service since 1988 and had become obsolete.
Each Sarmat missile is 35.5 meters long, 3 meters in diameter, and can carry 10-15 independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs) with a total yield equivalent to 50 million tons of TNT, along with various decoys to deceive enemy defense systems. Sarmat can also be fitted with Avangard hypersonic warheads or various types of hypersonic glide vehicles in the future.
The rocket's propulsion stage operates for a relatively short period, significantly limiting its detectability by satellites equipped with infrared sensors, making interception much more difficult for the enemy.
With a range of up to 18,000 km, the missile could be launched around Antarctica, evading the US's Arctic surveillance network.
Some experts believe Sarmat possesses similar capabilities to the Low Orbit Attack Weapon System (FOBS) developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, in which a warhead orbits the Earth in low orbit before re-entering the atmosphere and plunging towards its target at high speed.
President Putin once revealed that the Sarmat could achieve a range of up to 35,000 km if FOBS-type trajectories were applied.
Russia initially planned to commission the Sarmat in 2020, but had to postpone the deadline due to program delays. The first successful launch of the complete Sarmat missile took place in April 2022, followed by failed tests in February 2023 and September 2024.
Newdick assessed that the US LGM-35 Sentinel program, which is facing numerous technical and cost problems, is the driving force behind Russia's accelerated development of the Sarmat missile. "Russia is testing the RS-28 in a relatively fragmented manner. However, the perfected version will pave the way for them to deploy more strategic missiles in the future," the American expert stated.
Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/nga-thu-thanh-cong-sieu-ten-lua-tam-ban-18-000-km-postid445458.bbg
Comment (0)