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Saturday, 02 January 2021 (YJC)_ Russia is preparing to carry out flight tests of its new intercontinental ballistic missile.
Russia is preparing to carry out flight tests of its new intercontinental ballistic missile which it claims can overcome any defences.
The RS-28 Sarmat weighs 208 tonnes and has a range of about 6,200 miles.
It will carry up to 16 warheads and it's claimed could carry a payload capable of destroying an area the size of Texas or France.
The introduction of the missile has been put back several times because of delays in testing.
But Alexei Krivoruchko, Russia's deputy defence minister, told Krasnaya Zvezda, a military newspaper, that long-distance launches were imminent.
He said: "I will note that ejection tests of the Sarmat missile are completed with positive results.
"In the near future we will begin carrying out flight tests of this rocket complex."
Ejection or "pop-up" tests limit the firing to the first-stage engine pushing the missile out of the silo into the air.
The Sarmat is one of an arsenal of new strategic weapons unveiled by Vladimir Putin in 2018.
Krivoruchko added: "By virtue of its capabilities, no missile defence weapon, even the most advanced, can hinder it."
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