MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The drop tests of Russia's new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile carried out in 2018 confirmed the correctness of the engineering solutions that were chosen, the head of Roscosmos's Scientific-and-Technical Council, Yury Koptev, said in a video posted on the state corporation's YouTube channel.
"A very important stage, drop tests, was completed last year. They confirmed the correctness of all the basic engineering solutions," Koptev said.
He said that Roscosmos is making a serious contribution to the development of new weapons, "including such a remarkable project as the creation of a heavy ballistic missile to replace the world-famous 'Satan.'"
"As for the scope of the work, about 40% of what Roscosmos is doing is meant for national defense," Koptev said.
The RS-18 Sarmat ICBM will replace the RS-20V Voyevoda (NATO code name SS-18 Satan), the world's most powerful silo-based ICBM, which is operated by the Uzhur division in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Dombarovskaya division in the Orenburg region.