Russia has put its new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile into service, according to reported comments by Yuri Borisov, the head of Russian space agency Roskosmos.
The Sarmat weapon system can be armed with nuclear warheads. In June, President Vladimir Putin said that the nuclear-powered rocket would soon be ready for deployment.
Stationed in underground missile pits, the weapon can carry up to 15 nuclear warheads, according to Russian officials. But US military officials estimate up to 10 warheads.
With a total weight of 208 tons, the heavyweight missile has a range of 18,000 kilometres.
The Sarmat system is to replace an older intercontinental ballistic missile system dating from the 1980s.
In April 2022, the Russian armed forces tested the Sarmat missile in the Plesetsk region, about 800 kilometres north of Moscow. The test missiles reached their targets on the Kamchatka peninsula, in the country's far east region.
Series production is taking place in Siberia region.
