September 22, 2024 | 22.03
READING TIME: 2 minutes
Vladimir Putin’s Super Missile Flops Again. Russia Conducts New Test of RS-28 Sarmat ICBM and this test, the fourth, also turned into a failure. The test was carried out on Saturday, September 21, at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia: according to elements collected by analysts and experts, the Sarmat exploded in the launch silo, creating a huge crater on the ground and causing significant damage to the site.
The test flop
Ukrainian and American media, including Newsweek, highlight the information provided by a profile on X (@MeNMyRC), which was the first to report the incident. “The Sarmat test was reportedly a complete failure. The missile exploded at the site, leaving a significant crater and destroying the test site,” the post reads, which is accompanied by satellite images provided by Planet Labs.
The hypotheses refer to an explosion during the refueling operations and not during the actual launch.. The posts note the absence of NATO ‘Cobra Ball’ aircraft during the event. These aircraft are active to monitor missile launches and tests such as the one planned by Russia. The absence of the ‘Cobra Ball’ would tend to support the thesis of a totally aborted launch.
My thanks to @MT_Anderson for providing this Planet Labs imagery and allowing me to publish it with comments.
As is readily apparent, the RS-28 Sarmat test was a complete failure. The missile detonated in the silo leaving a massive crater and destroying the test site. The… https://t.co/FuKIaTNFVs pic.twitter.com/AuIpQRrDLa
— MeNMyRC (@MeNMyRC1) September 21, 2024
The Sarmat debuted in April 2022 with its first test, also in Plesetsk. At the time, Putin said that Russia’s enemies would “think twice” before taking action. “This truly unique weapon will force all those who are trying to threaten our country, in the heat of frenetic and aggressive rhetoric, to think twice,” the Russian president said. However, the program has since stalled.
How Sarmat should work
A year ago, the Ministry of Defense announced that the missile would be deployed for combat operations. “in the near future” and would have debuted in the ongoing war with Ukraine. The missiles are produced by Krasmash, a military industrial company, a subsidiary of the state space agency Roscomos. At the time, in the fall of 2023, Putin assured that the tests for the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile had been completed: only bureaucratic procedures were missing for the white smoke. Evidently, the situation is markedly different.
The Sarmats are expected to be capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads, the space agency Roscosmos has previously said. The silo-based system is capable of being armed with multiple nuclear warheads. In Russia’s plans, it is intended to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda, which has been in operation since 1988.
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