Email from Friday, July 17 2026 Click Here to Read on the MDAA Website Follow and Support MDAA MDAA Alert: Russia’s RS-28 Sarmat Heavy ICBM   A Sarmat-associated transporter-erector raises a canister at a Russian test-and-deployment site. The Sarmat is emplaced in modified 15P718M silos and cold-launched by gas ejection before first-stage ignition. Dear Members and Friends,  Our latest MDAA report is the 8th in our series of MDAA Friday Threat Alerts Key Points The RS-28 Sarmat is a Russian superheavy, silo-based, liquid-fueled ICBM built by the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau to replace the Soviet-era R-36M2 Voevoda (SS-18 “Satan”) ICBM. At roughly 208 tons and 35.3 m, with an 18,000 km range and an estimated 10-tonne throw-weight, it is the heaviest and longest-range ICBM in service.1 The RS-28's decisive attribute is payload and penetration, not economy. The Sarmat can carry up to 10 heavy or 15–16 lighter MIRV warheads, or a mix of warheads, decoys, and up to three Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles — a load designed to saturate and defeat U.S. midcourse missile defenses.2 It is engineered to bypass defenses geographically. A short boost phase, a fractional-orbital bombardment system (FOBS) option, and the ability to fly a South Pole trajectory would enable a Sarmat ICBM to approach the United States from directions that U.S. early-warning radars and interceptor fields do not cover.3 Employment and testing have been troubled. Only one full-range flight test (April 2022) is publicly confirmed as clearly successful. A September 2024 test destroyed a Plesetsk silo, leaving a 62 m crater, and a November 2025 launch near Yasny failed shortly after liftoff. Putin announced a successful test on 12 May 2026.4 Initial deployment is imminent but limited. The first operational regiment — the 302nd Missile Regiment of the 62nd Missile Division at Uzhur, Krasnoyarsk Krai, in southern Siberia near Russia’s border with Mongolia — is slated to stand up by the end of 2026, reusing existing silo infrastructure. The thin, mixed test record makes the pace of fielding a live question. Click here to read the full report. Winners Associate with Winners to Win! Riki Ellison Chairman and Founder Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance   Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email Click Here to Join MDAA _____________________________________________________________________ MDAA is a non-profit, non-partisan tax-exempt 501(c) (4) organization. Our mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States and its allies against missile threats. We are a membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity. Founded in 2002, MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. Visit our website www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org for more information.   Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance 515 King Street, Suite 330 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: (703) 299-0060 Email: [email protected]   Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance | 515 King Street Suite 330 | Alexandria, VA 22314 US Unsubscribe | Constant Contact Data Notice