Russia is upgrading its intercontinental ballistic missile force and has built a new missile said to be able to devastate a country in one strike. Former US Treasury official Dr. Paul Craig Roberts has said one shot could render about three-quarters of New York State (roughly the size of Turkey’s Marmara region) unusable for thousands of years. Other reports claim it could cover an area the size of Texas (comparable to all of Anatolia).
NATO calls the RS-28 Sarmat “Satan 2.” It would rank among the world’s most destructive weapons. Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau has worked on it since 2011.
A global reach threat
Earlier talk pointed to 2020 readiness; some now say 2018. The missile weighs more than 100 tons and is reported to have a 10,000 km range, enough to hit much of the world from inside Russia. It can carry about 10 tons of payload yet reach roughly 24,500 km/h. Reports mention 10 heavy or 16 lighter warheads, plus countermeasures against missile defenses.
According to Russia’s Sputnik magazine, Satan 2 packs enough nuclear yield to destroy France in a single strike.
Meant as a deterrent
Makeyev says the point is to deter any nuclear strike on Russia. Russia is not alone in pushing military tech. The US is working on laser weapons, autonomous missiles and submarines, and AI-guided drones. Japan recently said it would build unmanned aircraft to support fighters. Modern tech keeps reshaping how future wars would be fought.
