Russian missile struggles: Engine issues plague RS‑28 Sarmat

Reports about problems with this Russian missile model have surfaced for many years. It was originally planned to be introduced into service with the Strategic Rocket Forces as early as 2018, yet only one test has been conducted so far, and it failed.

The designers intended the Sarmat missile, developed as a successor to the RS-20 Voyevoda, to be able to carry a payload weighing 22,000 lbs. The design allows the transport of up to ten heavy or fifteen lighter warheads, each capable of striking different targets.

A Ukrainian company developed the engines used in the Voyevoda missiles. However, after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine ceased cooperating with Russia on this project and many other areas. In the rocket industry, Russia operates institutes like the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau and the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology. Nonetheless, as Wright noted, neither institution has adequate experience in building liquid fuel engines suitable for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The missile launching method employed here is the cold launch technique. This method involves ejecting the missile from a silo into the air using compressed gases, after which small engines quickly stabilize the rocket. Only then are the main engines activated. This technique ensures that the silo and gas tanks remain undamaged, allowing for their reuse. However, following the Sarmat missile test in Plesetsk in September 2024, satellite images showed that the silo and its surroundings were utterly destroyed.

The exact causes of the explosion remain unknown, but the size of the crater, approximately 197 feet in diameter, indicates that the explosion may have occurred in the silo. Wright suggested that one possible explanation is engine failure, which could have resulted in the missile failing to reach the appropriate ascent speed, causing it to fall back into the silo and explode.