Russia's Sarmat missile woes: Technical hitches and test failures

Reports about difficulties with this model of Russian missile have been emerging for many years. Although it was planned to be introduced into service with the Strategic Rocket Forces as early as 2018, so far, only one test has been conducted, which also ended in failure.

The designers anticipate that the Sarmat missile, developed as a successor to the RS-20 Voyevoda, will be capable of carrying a load weighing 10,000 kg. Its design allows for transporting up to ten heavy or fifteen lighter warheads, each capable of hitting different targets.

A Ukrainian company developed the engines used in the Voyevoda missiles. However, after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine decided to end cooperation with Russia on this project and in many other areas. In the rocket industry, Russia has the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau and the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology. As Wright noted, both institutions lack sufficient experience in building liquid fuel engines suitable for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The method used to launch the missile here is the cold launch technique. This method involves ejecting the missile from a silo into the air using compressed gases, after which small engines quickly stabilize the missile. Only then are the primary engines activated. This technique allows the silo and gas tanks to remain undamaged, enabling their reuse. However, after the Sarmat missile test in Plesetsk, in September 2024, satellite images revealed that the silo and its surroundings were utterly destroyed.

The exact causes of the explosion remain unknown, but the size of the crater, approximately 60 metres in diameter, suggests that the explosion may have occurred in the silo. Wright suggested that one possible explanation is engine failure, which could have caused the missile not to reach the appropriate ascent speed, fall back into the silo, and explode.