Putin's greatest warning to the West yet: Russia unveils first image of its Satan 2 super-nuke that is capable of wiping out England and Wales and 2,000 times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb
- The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2, will replace the SS-18
- Flies at 4.3 miles (7km) per sec and with a range of 6,213 miles (10,000km)
- The weapons are perceived as part of an increasingly aggressive Russia
- It could deliver a warhead of 40 megatons - 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
By
LIBBY PLUMMER and
GARETH DAVIES FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 05:44 EST, 25 October 2016 | UPDATED: 02:17 EST, 26 October 2016
has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France.
The RS-28 Sarmat missile, dubbed Satan 2 by Nato, has a top speed of 4.3 miles (7km) per second and has been designed to outfox anti-missile shield systems.
The new Sarmat missile could deliver warheads of 40 megatons - 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Scroll down for video Russian President
Vladimir Putin is reportedly planning to replace the country's older SS-18 Satan weapons with the new missiles amid a string of recent disagreements with the West. The Kremlin has stepped up the rhetoric against the West and carried a series of manoeuvres that has infuriated politicians in the US and UK.
Russia has unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile, capable of destroying an area the size of France. A contract for the weapons was signed in 2011, and they are expected to be ready in 2018
The pictures were revealed online by chief designers from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau.
A message posted alongside the picture said: 'In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government 'On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013', the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat. '
The RS-28 Sarmat missile is said to contain 16 nuclear warheads and is capable of destroying an area the size of France or Texas, according to Russian news network Zvezda, which is owned by Russia's ministry of defence.
The weapon is also able to evade radar.
It is expected to have a range of 6,213 miles (10,000 km), which would allow Moscow to attack London and other European cities as well as reaching cities on America's west and east coasts.
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If a Sarmat missile were fired at London it would wipe out most of Britain, as well as northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands
He said: 'Not only are they too fast but they have got rid of the predictable flight path.
'It manouevres all the way so it is terribly difficult for any missile defence system to shoot it down.'
The Russian Defence Ministry plans to put the Sarmat into service in late 2018 and remove the last SS-18 by 2020.
The Sarmat has been in development since 2009 and is scheduled to start replacing the old ICBMs in 2018.
The new missile is said to be undergoing testing near Miass in Russia.
As well as a bulging stock of nuclear missiles in Russia itself, Putin is looking to flex his muscles around the world.
Russia is considering reopening military bases in Vietnam and Cuba as Putin looks to assert his army's presence around the world.
Bases in those countries served as pivots of the Soviet global military power during the Cold War.
Now, the Kremlin looks set to plot a return Russian news agencies quoted Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov.
Egypt too is said to have accepted Russian military bases.
Read more:
Russia unveils image of its terrifying Satan 2 missile | Daily Mail Online
Yall were laughing at the smoky old naval carrier so putin did a show and tell...and he posted the 4th horseman of the apocalypse.
I told yall aircraft carriers were obsolete.......Hes tooled up and once they sell the blueprints to China theyll build themselves some even quicker for half the cost.
