Author Topic: Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile  (Read 743 times)

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Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile
« on: December 18, 2013, 09:03:12 am »
by Steve Gutterman

Russia will begin deploying a new type of long-range missile in 2018 to replace a Cold War standby known in the West as "Satan", a military commander said on Tuesday in a signal to the United States that Moscow is improving its nuclear arsenal.

A new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) called the Sarmat is being developed to supplant the RS-20B Voyevoda, the Interfax news agency quoted the commander of Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces, General Sergei Karakayev, as saying.

"We are counting on being armed with this qualitatively new missile system ... by 2018-2020," he was quoted as saying.

The Voyevoda, whose NATO name is the SS-18 Satan, was developed in the 1970s and the missiles are approaching the end of their service life. Karakayev said some of the ICBMs would remain in service until 2022.

The commander spoke on the anniversary of the creation in 1959 of the Strategic Rocket Forces, the military branch in charge of the ICBMs that were the stuff of nightmares in the United States during the superpower standoff of the Soviet era.

Russia and the United States signed the latest of a series of treaties restricting the numbers of ICBMs in 2010, but Moscow has indicated it will not go further in the near future, citing what it says are potential threats from U.S. weapons systems.

President Vladimir Putin has emphasized that Russia must maintain a strong nuclear deterrent, in part because of an anti-missile shield the United States is building in Europe and which Moscow says could undermine its security.

A pro-Kremlin newspaper reported on Monday that Moscow has deployed missiles with a range of hundreds of miles in its western exclave of Kaliningrad, alarming the governments of neighboring Poland and the Baltic states.

It was unclear whether the Sarmat was a missile that Russia tested in May 2012 and said should improve Russia's ability to foil missile defense systems. The Defense Ministry did not reveal the name of that missile.

Putin has pledged to spend 23 trillion roubles ($700 billion) by 2020 to upgrade defense, but a crucial strategic missile program separate to the Sarmat has been plagued by problems.

The Bulava missile had been scheduled to enter service in 2012 but several tests have failed, including an unsuccessful launch in September that prompted Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to order a new set of tests.

($1 = 32.9342 Russian roubles)

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/russia-plans-icbm-replace-cold-war-39-satan-144150964--sector.html

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Re: Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2013, 09:03:55 am »
The Mod 5 carries 10 MIRVs. Contemporary U.S. missiles, such as the Minuteman III, carried up to three warheads at most.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2013, 09:06:43 am by SPQR »

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Re: Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2013, 10:40:26 am »
Have you noticed the deadline for all of these new weapons systems both Russia and China are rolling out?

Every single one of them is due to be fully active and online by 2020. Wonder what they know that we don't.
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Re: Russia plans new ICBM to replace Cold War 'Satan' missile
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2013, 09:59:13 pm »
Have you noticed the deadline for all of these new weapons systems both Russia and China are rolling out?

Every single one of them is due to be fully active and online by 2020. Wonder what they know that we don't.

Some of them still have technological problems to overcome in case of the Borey Class missiles.Both nations are quickly adapting to the new technology. But Russia is desperately wants to reclaim its place as a player it lost in 1991.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2013, 10:03:15 pm by SPQR »