Sarmat Missile

Why in news?

• Russia recently said it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn.

About Sarmat Missile:

• Sarmat is an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile(ICBM) developed by Russia.
• It is named after nomadic tribes that roamed the steppes of present-day Southern Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in the early medieval period.
• It is designed to elude anti-missile defence systems with a short initial boost phase giving enemy surveillance systems a tiny window to track.
• The missile is expected to pose a significant challenge to the ground-and-satellite-based radar tracking systems of the western powers, particularly the USA.

Key Features:

• It is a three-stage, liquid-fueled missile with a range of 18,000 km.
• It can be deployed with 10 or more warheads on each missile.
• It will be the first Russian missile which can carry smaller hypersonic boost-glide vehicles. These are manoeuvrable and hard to intercept.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

‘Sarmat’, an intercontinental ballistic missile, capable of mounting nuclear strikes, is developed by:

(a) Israel

(b) United States

(c) Russia

(d) India

Answer