RS-28 Sarmat

[17] The missile officially entered operational service in September 2023, as the world's longest range and most powerful extant ICBM system.

[20] In May 2014, another official source suggested that the program was being accelerated, and that it would, in his opinion, constitute up to 100 percent of Russia's fixed land-based nuclear arsenal by 2021.

[25] In early 2017, prototype missiles had been reportedly built and delivered to Plesetsk Cosmodrome for trials, but the test program was delayed to re-check key hardware components before initial launch.

[27][28] On 1 March 2018, Russian president Vladimir Putin, in his annual address to the Federal Assembly, said that "the active phase of tests" of the missile had begun.

[30] On 30 March 2018, the Russian Defence Ministry published a video showing the Sarmat performing its second successful test-launch at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

[31] On 24 December 2019, during the exhibition of the modern weapon systems at the National Defense Management Center, it was reported that Sarmat is capable of a "35,000 km (22,000 mi) sub-orbital flight".

[32] On 20 April 2022, according to the Russian Defense Ministry: At 15:12 Moscow time at the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, a Sarmat fixed-based [sic] intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from a silo launcher.After the test, on 22 May, Roscosmos head Dmitri Rogozin warned that 50 new RS-28 Sarmat/SS-X-30 intercontinental nuclear missiles will soon be combat ready.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Sarmat has a short boost phase, which shortens the interval when it can be tracked by satellites with infrared sensors, such as the U.S.

[50] According to Russian state media sources, RS-28's launch sites were to be equipped with the "Mozyr"[citation needed] active protection system, which is claimed to negate a potential adversary's first strike advantage by discharging a cloud of metal arrows or balls kinetically that allegedly would destroy incoming bombs, cruise missiles and ICBM warheads at altitudes of up to 6 km (3.7 mi); however development of the Mozyr system ceased in 1991.