KRASNOYARSK. July 8 (Interfax) - The final stage of tests of the Sarmat intercontinental missile will begin in the end of 2020, Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said at a briefing following his visit to Krasnoyarsk on Saturday.
"Tests of our Sarmat strategic combat system are proceeding strictly on schedule. The engines of every state are tested separately, then the stages as a set, then flight tests and moving to the batch production. By the end of the year [2019] we will complete a considerable part of firing tests and we're planning to [approach] the final stage of flight tests by the end of the next year," Rogozin said.
The RS-28 "Sarmat" ICBM will replace the world's most powerful strategic silo-based RS-20V "Voyevoda" (SS-18 Satana in NATO classification) currently in service at the Strategic Missile Forces bases in Uzhur (Krasnoyarsk Territory) and Dombarovsky (Orenburg region).
The new missile complex will be introduced from 2021, initially in the Uzhur missile regiments. The Sarmat missile will be serially produced at Roscosmos' machinery plant Krasmash.