This week the world was reminded that North Korea isn’t the only country that has been showcasing its nuclear power to the world.
Russia conducted a massive test of its most advanced missile technology as the concluding salvo of the large-scale Zapad war games it conducted on NATO’s Eastern border.
The frighteningly powerful new missile technology now raises the stakes in a nuclear arms race that many had hoped was cooling down over the last few decades.
A total of three RS-28 Sarmat missiles, known by the ominous code name Satan 2, were launched. One of the missiles originated in the Plestek Cosmodrome in Western Russia while the other two crossed Russia from the West, both launching from submarines.
No ordinary launch, the purported 100-ton RS-28 Sarmat is significant for its 3,600-mile range and ability to deliver an immense, multi-warhead payload.
The missile has been in development since 2009 and is expected to enter regular service by 2020, though no figures are available on how many missiles may be deployed. Most are in hardened bunkers or on nuclear submarines.
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Russia claims it is capable of delivering 15 warheads, each registering in the 40-megaton range (roughly 2,000 times the strength of the bombs dropped on Japan) and able to target separate cities.
In short, the Satan 2 is a nation killer capable of completely destroying most European cities or the major population centers in an area the size of Texas.
Trying to counter such a missile, current defense systems use kinetic-kill vehicles, an approach that has been described as trying to knock a bullet out of the sky with another bullet – no small technical feat to be sure.
With a spotty hit record, multiple interceptors could be launched against any incoming ballistic missile to help ensure success. But when that ICBM includes 15 hypersonic warheads and several dummy projectiles, national defenses would be instantly overwhelmed by a single Satan 2, let alone if several dozen were fired.
All three missiles, fitted with only dummy warheads this time, hit their targets, the Russian military announced. Putin was on hand to witness the closing days of the war games and watched as the central command declared that “all assigned targets were engaged. All objectives of the training have been successfully completed.”
The wargames and their dramatic conclusion sent a message to the rest of the world that Russia continues to be a major military power. We may debate when North Korea will test its next nuclear device and if Kim Jong Un will be daring enough to use it in anger, but there is no doubt that Russia is as dangerous as ever.
