Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Russia’s “Sarmat” strategic missile system is the most powerful in the world, following what Moscow described as a successful test of the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile.
Putin received a detailed report from Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, commander of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, during a meeting held via video conference, where officials reviewed the latest developments surrounding the “Sarmat” missile program and the modernization of Russia’s nuclear deterrence capabilities.
According to the Kremlin, Karakayev informed Putin that the recent launch test of the missile system had been successful, paving the way for the deployment of the first operational regiment equipped with Sarmat missiles before the end of this year.
The regiment is expected to enter combat duty in the Uzhur missile formation located in Russia’s Krasnoyarsk region.
During the meeting, Putin said Russia has continuously worked on strengthening its strategic deterrence forces since the early 2000s, despite the political and economic difficulties the country faced after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“We resumed work on developing Russia’s deterrence forces and have continued without interruption since the beginning of the 21st century,” Putin said, adding that Russia had gone through “an extremely difficult period” at the time.
The Russian president described the Sarmat system as unmatched globally, claiming its combat payload exceeds the total destructive power of any comparable Western missile system by more than four times.
“This is the most powerful missile system in the world,” Putin said. “Its overall combat payload exceeds the strongest existing Western equivalent by more than fourfold.”
Putin also stated that the Sarmat system rivals the Soviet-era “Voevoda” missile complex, which remains in service with Russian forces and was long considered one of the most formidable strategic missile systems ever developed.
According to Putin, the Sarmat missile has a range exceeding 35,000 kilometers, allowing it to strike targets across vast distances while evading existing and future missile defense systems.
Russian military officials said the system incorporates advanced countermeasure technologies specifically designed to bypass modern missile interception networks.
Karakayev told Putin that Sarmat surpasses previous generations of Russian strategic missiles in several areas, including flight range, launch readiness, payload capacity, and penetration capabilities against missile defense shields.
The meeting also included updates on Russia’s hypersonic weapons programs. Putin confirmed that development work continues on the air-launched “Kinzhal” hypersonic missile, which entered service in 2017.
He said Russian engineers are currently focused on improving the missile’s strike precision, particularly in its non-nuclear configuration.
The announcements come as Moscow continues accelerating military modernization programs amid heightened tensions with Western countries and ongoing geopolitical confrontations linked to the war in Ukraine and NATO’s expanding military posture near Russian borders.
