The Russian military has announced that it is to test a new range of nuclear weapons nicknamed "Satan II".
The intercontinental ballistic missiles are regarded as invulnerable, meaning they could not be stopped by anti-missile systems.
Military insiders told TASS that the tests will begin in the next few months. The source said:
"The first launch of the Sarmat ICBM within the framework of flight development tests will be carried out tentatively in the third quarter of 2021, a field at the Kura testing range on Kamchatka will be a target".
Each missile can fire enough missiles to wipe out an area the size of France in one go.
The new missile system will replace Russia's current missile system which was developed in the 1970s. The new missiles have a range of 18,000 miles meaning they can reach anywhere on Earth and can carry a payload of up to ten tonnes. It also can be used to launch multiple missiles at once and at supersonic speed, meaning defences of opponents would be meaningless.
It is thought that the new weapon has been in development since 2001 when then US president George W. Bush withdrew the US from the 1972 US-Soviet anti-ballistic missile treaty. Vladimir Putin referred to this recently when he said:
"You didn't listen to our country then. Listen to us now".
Since the late 1980s, both Russia, then the Soviet Union, and the United States have been reducing the number of nuclear missiles at their disposal. There has also been bans in place on nuclear testing.
However, recent increased tensions between Russia and the United States have resulted in the ramping up of the pressure between the two global powers.
While President Trump was once seen as somewhat more friendly towards Russia, the new US President, Joe Biden, is widely regarded as being a strong opponent of the Putin regime. He has frequently denounced the Russian government and said that it has frequently aimed to undermine Western democracies and free elections.
[h/t: Futurism]
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