"Sarmat" and "Poseidon" inspire the American establishment with quiet horror

    Increased concern for their personal safety is the achilles heel of the American elite
    access_time26 May 2022
    print 26 5 2022
     

    On May 14, 2022, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov stated Washington's serious concern about Russia's latest developments in the field of strategic offensive weapons: "They don't like ‘Poseidon’ very much, they don't like ‘Sarmat’ very much, and at all meetings that we have with representatives of academic circles, they tell us all the time that in the future arms control agreement it is necessary to ban these ‘Poseidons’, of course, it is necessary to limit the use of ‘Sarmats’ and so on."

    The promising silo-based strategic missile system RS-28 "Sarmat" is to replace the Soviet complex R-36M "Voevoda" (according to NATO classification - SS-18 Satan) in the Strategic Missile Forces. The first launch of the “Sarmat” intercontinental ballistic missile took place on April 20, 2022. The design characteristics were confirmed at all stages of its flight, training warheads arrived in a given area at the Kura training ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

    The “Sarmat” ICBM has unique characteristics. First of all, we are talking about the range of the missile. It reaches 18,000 kilometres, which makes it possible to hit the continental United States both through the North and South Poles. Thus, this missile can bypass the positional areas of American missile defences. And Washington cannot create circular missile defences for the continental part of the United States, either physically or financially.

    The second main unique characteristic of the “Sarmat” ICBM is the payload mass – 10 tons. The missile has a separable head with 10-15 individual guidance combat units, each of which has a capacity of 750 kilotons in TNT equivalent.

    In addition, this intercontinental ballistic missile may have a variant of equipment in the form of hypersonic gliding “Avangard” combat units, presumably in the amount of three pieces. This combat unit can reach speeds of up to Mach 27 (33,000 kilometres per hour).

    It is almost impossible to shoot down the “Avangard” combat unit, because it manoeuvres along an unpredictable trajectory. The “Sarmat” ICBM, equipped with “Avangards”, flies along a more gentle trajectory, which allows it to strike anywhere on the planet within 30 minutes after launch.

    According to Russian military experts, one ICBM in the variant equipped with a separable warhead with 10-15 individual guidance combat units is enough to solve Britain's urgent problem once and for all. Although, of course, for reliability, two missiles are better. Just two missiles – and Britain is gone. London needs to remember this.

    According to the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, testing of the "Sarmat" Russian strategic missile system will go on until the end of 2022, and the first serial missiles are planned to be put on combat duty at the end of autumn 2022. It should be noted that in the Uzhursky missile compound of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, work is already underway to prepare the main missile regiment for rearmament with a new missile system.

    Poseidon" is an oceanic multipurpose system. It includes four nuclear submarines-carriers of nuclear underwater drones "Poseidon".

    The underwater “Poseidon” drone is a nuclear torpedo with a nuclear engine. Thanks to this, “Poseidon” can reach speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour under water, and its range of destruction reaches 10,000 kilometres. The torpedo can dive to a depth of one kilometre. The nuclear warhead of the drone has a power of 2 megatons in TNT equivalent.

    One nuclear submarine carries six “Poseidon” nuclear submarine torpedoes. In total, it is planned to have four such submarines in service. Two will be part of the Pacific Fleet, and two will be part of the Northern Fleet.

    The first carrier submarine of the “Poseidon” drones is the Belgorod special-purpose submarine of project 09852. It was launched on April 23, 2019 and is now undergoing state tests. The transfer of this submarine to the Pacific Fleet is scheduled for the summer of 2022.

    The remaining three submarines will be project 09851 of the “Khabarovsk" type, while two of them are already under construction. The full combat deployment of the “Poseidon” ocean multipurpose system should be completed by 2027.

    The process of the combat use of the "Poseidon" underwater drone is as follows: a nuclear torpedo is delivered by a carrier submarine to the place of dispatch, then the torpedo is submerged to a depth of 1 kilometre, which is deeper than the maximum depth of action of the torpedo weapon in 350-400 meters, and launches.

    It is impossible to repel a “Poseidon” strike. One nuclear torpedo can hit an entire carrier strike group. According to foreign experts, detonation of a nuclear warhead with a capacity of 2 megatons underwater can cause a radioactive tsunami with waves up to 90 meters high, which will spread deep into the territory and make it uninhabitable for many years.

    The “Poseidon” ocean multipurpose system is Russia's asymmetric response to the deployment of the US missile defence system. There is no protection from this Russian weapon.

    It is obvious that it is precisely the unique combat characteristics of “Sarmat” and “Poseidon” that inspire the American establishment with quiet horror. Increased concern for their personal safety is the achilles heel of the American elite. Therefore, the loss of a sense of personal security is perceived extremely painfully. Accordingly, there is a very strong interest in banning “Poseidon” and restricting the use of “Sarmat”.

    Both “Sarmat” and “Poseidon” absolutely guarantee that Russia will launch a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States and its allies. At the same time, the Americans assess the situation not from the point of view of Russia's nuclear doctrine, but from the point of view of the potential of strategic offensive weapons.

    And so. The “Poseidon” system also allows for a preemptive nuclear strike. This, by the way, has not yet been discussed in the open press. However, the United States understands this perfectly well.

    The Missile Attack Warning System (MAWS) is designed to detect the launch of ballistic missiles, calculate their trajectory and transmit information to the command centre, with the help of which the fact of an attack on a state using missile weapons is recorded and a decision is made on retaliatory actions.

    But neither space nor ground elements of the MAWS can track the beginning of movement to the target of a nuclear torpedo in the world ocean at a depth of one kilometre. Accordingly, in the case of “Poseidon”, the missile attack warning system is completely useless. It will be possible to find out about the “Poseidon" strike only after it has already taken place, and then it will be too late.

    Both the “Sarmat” ICBM and the “Poseidon” ocean multipurpose system will hang like a sword of Damocles over the United States and its allies after their deployment. This is quite an advantageous situation for Russia, because we will keep NATO in suspense so that it adheres to certain limits of behaviour.

    Another reason for Washington's desire to limit “Sarmat” and ban “Poseidon” is the strong lag behind the United States in modernising its strategic nuclear potential. The American engineering school is not capable of creating such an intercontinental ballistic missile as “Sarmat”.

    America can potentially do something similar to “Poseidon”, taking into account its experience in creating unmanned surface and underwater vehicles. However, in the USA, 70% of the population and infrastructure is concentrated on the eastern and western oceanic coasts. And in Russia, the bulk of the population and infrastructure is located inside the continent, respectively, the American "Poseidon" will be ineffective against our country.

    Currently, the strategic offensive weapons of the United States and Russia are regulated by the START-3 treaty, which has been extended until February 5, 2026. And the same "Sarmat" is easy to take into account. However, it is not known whether such an agreement will be concluded after this date. For example, we will have to take into account the factor of China. It is possible that by this time China will come close to achieving strategic nuclear parity with the United States.

    The Americans easily withdrew from a number of treaties that provide strategic stability in their interests. But, as we know, it's easy to get out, but it's very difficult to return.

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