MOSCOW. Sept 5 (Interfax-AVN) - The serial supply of the advanced intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat will begin in 2018, a source in the defense industry told Interfax on Monday.
"The first Sarmat missiles will reach the Strategic Missile Forces no later than 2019. Most likely in 2018," the source said.
The modernization of the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, where these intercontinental ballistic missiles are made, helps intensify the work on the RS-28 Sarmat project, which is stated in the state armaments program for the period until 2020 as a separate item, the source said.
"The Russian government made a timely decision to modernize the production facilities of the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant for the production of heavy liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles. Today it is especially vital due to the tense military-political situation in the world. Sarmat is a powerful stabilizing argument, which is capable of cooling even the hottest heads even before the combat use stage. The capabilities of the Sarmat are unprecedented," the source said.
According to expert evaluations, intercontinental ballistic RS-28 Sarmat missiles can deliver the splitting head part weighing up to ten tonnes to any point in the world both through the North Pole and the South Pole. The Sarmat is also expected to be used for carrying hypersonic units, specifically, aircraft named by the press "Object 4202" developed by NPO Machinostroyeniya (Reutov, Moscow region).
Military experts believe that the fact that Russia has intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat groups will deter the U.S. plans to deploy a global missile defense system (ABM). Specifically, this is due to the Sarmat capability to deliver combat units and deliver strikes from various directions, including the "transit" of nuclear munitions through the South Pole.
Additionally, heavy stationary intercontinental ballistic missiles help resolve new tasks, which are untraditional for RVSN. This includes countering the policy of a global instantaneous strike declared in the U.S. with conventional weapons. It is deemed that intercontinental ballistic missiles equipped with high-precision combat units with conventional content will be the best answer to the implementation of this program of the Pentagon.
"These are those cheap and cheerful asymmetrical solutions that help deter potential aggressors without getting involved in the costly arms race," the source said.
The experts also said the multidirectional fly-to azimuths of the heavy intercontinental ballistic missile make the opposing side provide a circular missile defense. It is much more complex and costly to organize than sectoral missile defense.
The intercontinental ballistic missiles RS-28 Sarmat will replace the world's most powerful silo-based strategic missile RS-20V Voyevoda ((NATO reporting name - SS-18 "Satan") in the Uzhur (Krasnoyarsk Territory) and Dombarovsky (Orenburg region) divisions of RVSN.