For some reason, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is lavishing praise on Russia's new RS-28 Sarmat (NATO reporting name, SATAN 2) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) still under development.

One of the PLA's more important websites on Nov. 8 published a lengthy story about SATAN 2, claiming this heavy ICBM "will be the new trump card in Russia's nuclear arsenal and pose an immense deterrent on the U.S."

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The Chinese hallelujahs praising SATAN-2 were apparently triggered by Russia's publishing the first photo of this hush-hush missile last Oct. 25 on its state-owned propaganda websites.

One website said Sarmat is designed to carry a hypersonic glider warhead. The missile is expected to go into production as early as 2018 and is being developed at the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau in the city of Miass.

The first image of the new missile was declassified by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau on Oct. 23.

Chinese state-owned media revealed that Russia began to develop the new heavy liquid-fueled ICBM 2009 to replace the R-36M2 Voevoda (NATO reporting name, SS-19 SATAN) and UR-100N UTTH (NATO reporting name, Stiletto), both of which will soon be decommissioned.

The PLA said Sarmat "has a dead load of 100 tons; uses liquid-propellant engine, and can carry 10-15 independently targetable nuclear warheads that adopt advanced penetration technology and can allegedly penetrate all existing anti-missile systems and identify and strike multiple targets in different directions.

"With a shooting range of 17,000 km, the missile can fly over the South Pole or North Pole and accurately hit any target on earth."

The PLA quoted one military experts as saying that once Sarmat is deployed, it will be the new trump card in Russia's nuclear arsenal and pose an immense deterrent on the U.S. Sarmat will be commissioned in its Strategic Missile Force in 2018-2019.

It said Russia is developing the new strategic missile and accelerating the upgrade of nuclear weapons mainly "to preserve national security and maintain its position as a major nuclear power."

Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear SATAN-2 will remain a key element to prevent nuclear and conventional military conflicts. He said Russia's main task is to "maintain sufficient potential of nuclear containment."

Putin said Russia's new strategic weapons will be able to "penetrate any anti-missile defense system," and its development of new strategic missiles in recent years is focused on such penetration capability.

Russia's Topol-M, Yars strategic missile and Sarmat "boast powerful strike capability, high speed and strong penetration capability," said the PLA.

The PLA said Russia's efforts to preserve its position as a major nuclear power are focused on developing new land-based strategic missiles.

Russia will invest some $700 billion in upgrading its weapons and equipment, 10 percent of which is for strategic nuclear force. This includes the research and development of new land-based strategic missile that can carry nuclear warheads, equipping the navy with new-generation Borei-class strategic nuclear submarine, and deploying the new Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).

Speeding up the upgrade of strategic missile is a necessary step for Russia to deal with the missile defense system deployed by the U.S. and other NATO members in East Europe, and the new geopolitical situation.

TagsPeople's Liberation Army, RS-28 Sarmat, SATAN 2, intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, Russia, R-36M2 Voevoda, Vladimir Putin