On 19 July, the official Facebook account of Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation posted a video showing the newest Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile.

The MoD released video showing the liquid-fueled, MIRV-equipped, superheavy thermonuclear armed intercontinental ballistic missile is developed to replace the old SS-18 Satan missile.

According to the official statement, the program for the deployment of the Sarmat missile system is synchronized in time with the gradual withdrawal of its predecessor, the R-36M2 Voevoda missile system, also known as the SS-18 Satan.

The energy capabilities of the Sarmat missile system make it possible to use an extended range of combat capability on the missile. It can carry combat blocks of small, medium, high or large power classes.

President Vladimir Putin early said that delivery of the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile to Russia’s military is scheduled for 2020.

“The systems, which will beef up our strategic forces in the foreseeable future, I mean, first of all, the Sarmat system, which is to be delivered to the troops in 2020, the Avangard system, the delivery of which is scheduled for 2019, and other systems are being tested according to the original schedule,” – said Vladimir Putin during a meeting with top military and defence industry officials in Sochi on 18 May.

The serial production of the Sarmat missile would probably be conducted at the Krasmash factory in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

Developed by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau, the new hypersonic Sarmat missile is capable of striking targets both via the North and the South Poles.

“The missile’s uniquely cross-functional combat platform allows the use of all types of individually targeted warheads, including ones which are still on the drawing board,” Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces Commander, Col. Gen. Karatayev.

According to the Center’s Missile Defense Project, the Sarmat as being able to carry 10 large warheads, 16 smaller ones, a combination of warheads and countermeasures, or up to 24 YU-74 hypersonic boost-glide vehicles.

That means one Satan 2 ICBM could pack as much as eight megatons of TNT-equivalent explosive power.

The Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is small enough to fit into existing missile silos with minimum modifications to launch area infrastructure.