Russia’s Satan 2 nuclear missile, officially known as the Sarmat RS-28, is a weapon capable of flying over 11,000 kilometres and destroying targets as large as France. It is expected to come into service as soon as 2018, but is primarily for nuclear deterrance, not nuclear attack.
When it was revealed in the news last year that Russia – famously stereotyped for its nuclear arsenal – had the power to blow up France in one go, the western worriers went, “Oh shit!”
And rightfully so, because the Sarmat RS-28 – nicknamed Satan 2 – is a beast of a thing, coming at a time where many are worried about Russia’s relations with Europe, NATO and the west as a whole.
What is the Satan 2?
The Satan 2 massive nuclear missile is designed to be both fast and powerful – arguably two things you don’t want together in a single atomic weapon…
The Telegraph reports that the Satan 2 will weight around 10 tons, the payload of which is supposedly capable of eliminating an area around 600-700,000 kilometres squared (i.e. the size of France, of Texas). To give you an idea of scale, the Telegraph goes on to state that this is about 2,000 times the size of Hiroshima – so you can just imagine the true consequence of Satan 2 being unleashed upon the world.
Perhaps more worryingly, there have been reports of Russia testing hypersonic warheads supposedly for use with the Sarmat RS-28, and CNN states that it could travel as far as 11,000 kilometres. At an assumed speed of Mach 5 (which hypersonic generally refers t0), you could be saying hello to Satan 2’s cheerful face thousands of miles away from its launch point in as little as an hour. An hour! (Mach 5 speed can be categorised at between 6-12,000 kph)
From Russia to Sydney – nearly 12,000 km – in one hour.
What does this mean for New Zealand?
Realistically? Absolutely nothing. Russia thus far has stated that this weapon is being deployed as a part of its ongoing defensive nuclear deterrence strategies, and with so much western-media trembling around the subject of Russia, it’s hard to determine the fact from the fiction. That said, despite the James Bond cliches, Russians aren’t all supervillains and they are far from stupid. To launch such a weapon would mean certain doom for their own nation, considering the many thousands of nuclear weapons stationed around the world capable of a retaliatory strike.
You needn’t be worried.
However, so you can sleep better at night, allow me to explain one thing. France is approximately 644,000 kilometres squared, while Texas is closer to 700,000 kilometres squared. Our Aussie brethren have a good 7.6 million kilometres squared to hide on, so really they’d be looking at the loss of a single state (NSW is about 800,000 kilometres squared).
And New Zealand?
A pleasant 268,000 kilometres squared. So let’s hope a) That weapon never points here (which it likely never would) and b) we can all run and hide behind the Southern Alps if it is.
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