Russia claims retest of its Satan 2 missile was “successful” without typical Kremlin propaganda fanfare – amid speculation Armageddon missile fell behind schedule

Russia today claimed that test flights of its giant Satan 2 hypersonic missile were “successfully conducted”.

However, the commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN), Colonel General Sergei Karakayev, who made the announcement without typical Kremlin fanfare, did not provide any specific new launch details.

This is in contrast to April, when information immediately emerged about the first test flight of President Vladimir Putin’s allegedly “unstoppable” 25,880km/h hypersonic beast known in Moscow as the Sarmat.

The announcement comes amid suspicions that the missile is far from operational, after other scheduled test launches appear to have failed.

According to a statement from Russia’s Defense Ministry today, Karakayev said that “flight tests of the Sarmat missile system were successfully carried out.”

So far, no videos or photos of new launches have been made.

Karakaev made his announcement about the Satan-2 test during an extended meeting of the Strategic Missile Forces Military Council held in the Moscow region.

It came amid speculation that the much-hyped rocket was behind schedule. It is scheduled to take effect at the end of this year.

Ten days ago, Russia vaguely hinted that “Flight design tests of the Sarmat [ICBM] may proceed with a possible second test launch before the end of this year.”

The missile is the size of a 14-storey skyscraper and has been called for by pro-Putin propagandists, who regularly threaten to use it against Western enemies – notably Britain and the US – in a bid to drum up support for Ukraine’s Russian border. to strengthen. .

The first test was announced with great fanfare as soon as it took place on April 20, and Putin spoke via video link. The silo-based Satan-2 was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.

In May, former Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin, considered a close Putin ally, said nearly 50 Satan-2 missiles that were in “mass production” would soon be in combat service. This was met with skepticism.

A major ICBM test was scheduled for early June, and local residents near the Kura test site were warned to avoid the destination in remote Kamchatka.

But that test never took place.

The announcement comes amid suspicions that Vladimir Putin’s “unstoppable” 15,880-mile hypersonic missile is far from operational, after other scheduled test launches appear to have failed to materialize.

On June 25, Rogozin signaled: “We are absolutely on schedule, we are now preparing for the second Sarmat test flight.” The following month, Rogozin was fired for unknown reasons, with a promised new Kremlin job still to come.

He has recently been spotted in the war zone but has no new role, despite reports that he would be Putin’s personal representative in newly annexed regions of Ukraine.

TopWar.ru said the missile test situation “raises questions”.

The military said a decision on whether to launch it would be made after just two launches if the schedule was met. It is “unknown” why there were not more pre-deployment tests as there were with other large missiles.

“It is curious that the announced program of test launches does not provide a demonstration of the full potential of the new ICBM,” read a report before Karakaev’s statement.

Defense analysts who suspect hypersonic exaggeration have pointed out that Russia’s earlier R-36M2 Voevoda missile was tested no fewer than 17 times before entering combat service.

Another missile – RT-14:00 Topol – was tested dozens of times before being deployed.

“In this context, the truth of the terms Rogozin speaks of – Sarmat is in it [serial] Production and will soon be transferred to ‘combat duty’ – looks doubtful,” said defense expert Leonid Nersisyan.

There is speculation that the much talked about rocket is behind schedule. It is scheduled to take effect at the end of this year

“It is much more likely that Sarmat will go through the same program of testing, prototyping and experimentation as its predecessors,” he wrote in Shephard Media.

“Actually deploying the ICBM to the Strategic Missile Forces seems impossible before the end of 2022 and hardly feasible in 2024.”

In early July, Rogozin visited the Krasmash defense plant in Krasnoyarsk in eastern Siberia, which he dubbed the “Doomsday Plant,” to inspect the Satan-2 production process for test flights.

The missile was rolled into the forest in front of the camera – and the saber-rattling Rogozin said: “The most powerful nuclear missile in the world is being prepared for new tests.”

In April, after the first launch, Rogozin promised that “a few more tests will be carried out to prove that the system meets the technical parameters set by the main customer – the Ministry of Defense”.

He later uncovered an 8 meter deep crater made by the warhead missile at the Kura test site.

“With a nuclear payload, such a crater in enemy territory becomes… well, very large and very deep – and radioactive.

And not just one, but exactly as many as the most powerful nuclear missile in the world will fall on the territory of a bitter enemy.

“And soon we will have almost 50 such Sarmatians [the missile is known in the West as Satan-2] in combat duty.

“It only remains to advise the attackers to speak more politely with Russia.”

Pictured: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev and Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin at the Security Council meeting on November 18, 2022

Karakaev’s announcement of this Armageddon missile came as Putin held his first face-to-face meeting with his powerful security forces since February 21, three days before he announced his invasion of Ukraine.

There was immediate speculation that the event – which came after about a week in which Putin was rarely seen – was more important than the day-to-day agenda for improvements in Russia’s civil defence.

All of Putin’s key security ministers were present, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu wore a civilian suit.

Noted journalist Farida Rustamova noted: “Putin held a ‘small’ Security Council. [Not online] For the first time since February 21. No details except that they were talking about civil defense. I don’t like to escalate, but it’s disturbing to be honest.”

It follows Kremlin watchers, who have noted Putin’s relative absence in recent days and suspected that some meetings were “canned” or pre-recorded. He is seen as someone who does this when he is sick or on medical treatment – or when there is bad news.

The independent Verstka news agency said Putin had not yet responded to the surrender of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson by his senior military commander Sergei Surovikin or other embarrassing setbacks in his ongoing invasion.

“Disappearing in difficult times is one of our president’s most repeated tricks,” said Ekaterina Shulman, a leading political scientist and former member of his Human Rights Council.

“He disappears for ten days, two weeks if something is wrong.

The most famous of these disappearances was after the murder of [opposition leader Boris] Nemtsov in 2015, but it certainly wasn’t the only one…

“That’s his way… His long experience seems to teach the political leader that if he turns his back on it, it will work.”