Russia's Sarmat ICBM Tests Showcase Improving Nuclear Shield

MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. Tests of Russia’s Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) have demonstrated that Russia’s nuclear shield is improving, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin stated. "This missile has no equal," Volodin was quoted as saying on the website of the lower house of parliament. "Yesterday’s tests demonstrated that our nuclear shield is improving." On Tuesday, Commander of the Strategic Missile Forces Sergey Karakayev reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the successful launch of the Sarmat. The Russian Armed Forces plan to deploy the first regiment equipped with this intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the end of the year. Putin noted that the Sarmat is the most powerful missile system in the world - four times more powerful than its most capable Western counterparts. Its operational range exceeds 35,000 km. The missile can travel not only along a ballistic but also a suborbital trajectory, overcoming all existing and prospective anti-missile defense systems.