In recent years, a kind of tradition has emerged in the Russian Ministry of Defense. Before the holiday of this or that kind of troops, his command tells the public about the latest successes and plans for the future. Earlier this week, Colonel-General S. Karakaev, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, took the floor.
The development of strategic missile forces is one of the most important tasks under the current State Armament Program. According to current plans, over the next few years, a radical update of the technology and weapons of the Strategic Missile Forces should take place. In 2018, the share of new weapons and equipment should reach 80%. For this, it is planned to continue deliveries of equipment already mastered in production. In addition, there are several projects to be completed. Thanks to this, until the end of this decade, the number of outdated and obsolete missiles or auxiliary equipment will constantly decrease.
At the same time, however, the command of the Strategic Missile Forces and the Ministry of Defense do not intend to immediately abandon the old missiles. According to Colonel General S. Karakaev, the R-36M2 Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) will remain in service until 2022. ICBMs of this model, put into service at the end of the eighties, will continue to serve. Their number will constantly decrease and at the beginning of the next decade, these missiles will be completely removed from duty.
The Russian strategy for the recruitment and use of strategic missile forces implies the simultaneous operation of missiles of two classes: heavy and light. In the light class, the Topol-M and Yars missile systems will be used in the future. New Sarmat missiles will replace the heavy "Voevods" taken off duty. Adoption of this missile system is expected in 2018-20. Thus, the production of missiles of the new model will proceed simultaneously with a reduction in the number of old ones, which will allow updating the weapons of the Strategic Missile Forces without impairing their capabilities.
The commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces claims that the new Sarmat missile system will not be inferior to the Voevoda in terms of characteristics and combat effectiveness. The new missile will be able to destroy targets at long ranges using different flight paths. The new control system should provide high precision guidance of warheads. The launch weight of the new rocket, as previously stated, will exceed 100 tons.
The development of the new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile began at the end of the last decade. The existence of such a project in the summer of 2009 was first reported by N. Solovtsov, at that time the former commander-in-chief of the Strategic Missile Forces. A little later, the first information about the expected completion date of the project appeared - the development was planned to be completed by 2017. Finally, in September last year, S. Karakaev spoke about plans to adopt a new ICBM into service. As it is now, a year ago, the Ministry of Defense planned to start purchasing new missiles in 2018-20.
A hypothetical image of an early version of an ICBM project developed by the Makeev State Regional Center, which could form the basis of the Sarmat ROC, was published in 2005.
The Sarmat project is being developed by a group of defense industry organizations headed by the State Missile Center named after V. P. Makeeva. According to some sources, the serial production of new missiles will be deployed at the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant. For obvious reasons, such information may not correspond to reality, since the project has not even reached the testing stage yet. Last fall, reports appeared in the domestic media, according to which the Ministry of Defense considered the preliminary design of the Sarmat missile system and approved it, making a number of comments. Shortly thereafter, work began on a technical project. In the summer of this year, it became known that the construction of a full-scale model is planned for 2014. Thus, the first test launches can be expected in the coming years.
The design, equipment composition and characteristics of the promising Sarmat ICBM remain unknown. Due to the lack of official information, various assumptions and assessments appear based on last year's statements by Colonel General S. Karakaev. Then he mentioned that the new missile for the Strategic Missile Forces will have a launch weight of more than 100 tons. Based on this information, all existing assumptions are made. Apparently, the design of the Sarmat missile in its basic features will be similar to the R-36M2 Voevoda. In this case, a promising ICBM will be a two-stage missile with a stage for breeding warheads. There is reason to believe that liquid-propellant engines will be used on the Sarmat rocket. However, do not forget that official information about the technical appearance of a promising rocket is limited only to approximate information about its starting weight.
The development and construction of new heavy ICBMs will make it possible to carry out an equivalent replacement of the existing weapons of obsolete types. The introduction into service of heavy-class missiles with warheads of individual guidance in the context of rearmament of the Strategic Missile Forces is a way of cardinal modernization of existing delivery vehicles. The service life of the existing Voevoda missiles is coming to an end, which is why in the foreseeable future it is required to create a new complex with similar combat characteristics. This is what "Sarmat" will become.
