Putin To U.S.: 'You Will Listen To Russia Now' As He Deploys Hypersonic Nuclear ICBM, Could Spark New Arms Race

Satan 2: Putin Tells U.S. 'You Will Listen To Russia Now' as he Deploys Hypersonic Nuclear ICBM

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is developing a new generation of advanced nuclear weapons including a hypersonic intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can reach almost anywhere in the world and cannot be shot down by anti-missile systems.

Putin made the claim during his annual presidential address to the Federal Assembly in Moscow. He officially unveiled a new hypersonic nuclear-capable ICBM called the RS-28 Sarmat and said it would be able to strike anywhere in the U.S.—adding that testing of the weapon is now complete. NATO calls the nuke “Satan 2”.

A video was played during the speech showing off the weapon’s alleged capabilities, reported RT, Russian state media. Putin said other countries only listen to Russia when it creates new weapons systems, reported Sputnik, another of Russia’s state organs. “You will listen to us now,” he added.

Russia's RS-28 Sarmat, called Satan 2 by NATO, a hypersonic ICBM Putin claims can hit anywhere in the U.S. and which has been deployed in the south of his country. RT screenshot 

There have been media reports about the RS-28’s development since 2014. But Putin’s speech claims testing of the weapon is finished—and he said it is already deployed in the south of Russia, Sputnik reported.

Claims made in the Russian media about the RS-28’s capability state that it carries a payload powerful enough to destroy an area the size of Texas and has a propulsion system so advanced that it can defy existing missile defense systems.

Putin’s nuclear grandstanding comes at a time when he is pushing to expand Russia’s sphere of influence, especially in the Middle East. After the U.S. and its allies including Britain decided not to fully enter the conflict in Syria back in 2013, after the Assad regime was accused of using chemical weapons on his own people, Russia stepped in to support the Syrian government militarily and financially as it attempted to regain control of the country.

Now it is using its foothold in Syria to cement its influence in the region and push the U.S. back. In a statement to the House Armed Services Committee, General Joseph L. Votel, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), warned that Russia's presence in Syria threatened America's ability to "dominate the airspace".

Putin's nuke boasts could spark new arms race with US

Russia’s claim to have developed new strategic weapons impervious to Western defenses seems unlikely to change the balance of global power.

Russian nuclear missiles already have the ability to annihilate the US, and US defense strategy is based mainly on the deterrent threat of massive nuclear retaliation, not on an impenetrable shield against Russian missiles.

But some analysts said President Vladimir Putin’s statements about the new weapons with “unlimited” range may speed up what they see as an emerging arms race with the United States. Just last month the United States cast Russia as the main reason it needs to develop two new nuclear weapons: a lower-yield warhead for a submarine-launched ballistic missile and a sea-launched nuclear cruise missile.

The Trump administration has vowed to expand US nuclear strength, while criticizing Russia’s buildup. Putin’s remarks seem unlikely to change that equation or divert the Trump administration from its path toward modernizing the full US nuclear arsenal at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars while also expanding missile defenses.

The Pentagon recently mentioned Russia’s work on two of those weapons: the underwater drone with intercontinental range and a hypersonic “glide vehicle,” which is a weapon that Washington and Beijing also are working on. The Pentagon has not publicly talked about the nuclear-powered cruise missile mentioned by Putin. It is reminiscent of US work in the 1960s on a similar weapon, dubbed “The Big Stick,” but ultimately scrapped.

The White House dismissed Putin’s comments.

“President Putin has confirmed what the United States government has known all along, which Russia has denied: Russia has been developing destabilizing weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, said in response to Putin’s announcement.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert noted that Putin was speaking ahead of the March 18 election.

Putin claimed his new weapons will render US and European defenses useless, suggesting an escalation of the stakes in a long-running struggle for stability in the post-Cold War world. Moscow has long threatened to find technological ways around Western missile defenses that it sees as threatening and that the West denies are aimed at Russia.