Russia to test new Satan 2 ballistic missile that could obliterate 'area the size of UK or Texas'
Russia is set to test its biggest ever nuclear missile which is powerful enough to
destroy the whole of the UK, Texas or France with a single strike.
The so-called Satan 2 intercontinental ballistic missile could deliver about
a dozen nuclear warheads of 40 megatons - 2,000 times as powerful as the atom
bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
President Vladimir Putin's Defence Ministry plans to test two RS-28 Sarmat
super nukes at the remote Plesetsk Cosmodrome before the end of the year, it was
reported.
The 100-tonne weapons - which could enter service as early as 2019 - will make
the bombs dropped on Japan look like “popguns”, experts have said.
Russia claims the missiles can "beat any defences" as it seeks to replace its arsenal of SS-18 Satan
weapons.
The Satan 2 missile was displayed during a Victory Day
parade in May and test-firings have been delayed several times due to problems
with the missile itself and silo.
A source told the Moscow-based Kommersant newspaper that two tests will take
place this year, as long as the first one goes according to plan.
The source said: "The main purpose is to check the performance of the
rocket's systems at the time of the exit from the silo, and the activation of
Sarmat's first stage and the subsequent [flight] for about five seconds."
Last May, frightening footage of the liquid-fuelled Satan 2 being paraded
through the streets was posted online.
Moscow weapons experts have said the weapon of mass destruction will be able
to evade radar defences and could travel far enough to strike London or the
East and West Coast of the US.
The terrifying new missile is twice as light as Russia's current ballistic
missiles, the Voyevoda, with an estimated range of more than 6,000 miles.
The missiles have an estimated speed of more than Mach 20, or 4.3 miles per
second.
Military expert Aleksey Leonkov told Kommersant that when Russia adopted the
Voyevoda it carried out more than 30 tests, and not all were successful.
He expects a high number of Satan 2 tests to be carried out before the weapon
is deemed ready for service.
Source: Mirror
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