Russia To Likely Test Deadly 'Satan 2' Nuclear Missile

Russia will soon test launch its new nuclear missile, which according to Russian media is so powerful that it could wipe out nearly all of the United Kingdom or France.

The RS-28 Sarmat thermonuclear-armed ballistic missile is capable of beating any defences and wiping out entire countries, Daily Mail quoted Russia’s military as saying.

The report says the launches will be held at the Plesetsk testing ground in west Russia by this year end. If the tests prove successful, the weapon could be in use by 2019-20.

The missile is capable of delivering warheads of 40 megatons - 2,000 times as powerful as the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

It has been dubbed "Satan 2", as it will replace the RS-36M, the1970s-era weapon referred to by Nato as the Satan missile.

The first images of Russia’s largest ever nuclear missile were unveiled in October 2016. Russian media report that the missile will weigh up to 10 tons with the capacity to carry up to 10 tons of nuclear cargo.

Russia reportedly tested a hypersonic warhead in April 2016 that is apparently intended for use on the Satan 2 missiles. The warhead is designed to be impossible to intercept because it does not move on a set trajectory.