Missile defensePutin: Russia has missiles that can evade antimissile defenses

Published 1 March 2018

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has developed and successfully tested new nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered underwater drone, that would be immune, the Russian leader claimed, to enemy intercept. In his annual address in Moscow on 1 March, Putin said that the newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat had an unlimited range and was capable of penetrating any antimissile system. Using graphics and video, Putin said a new deep-water missile could be launched from submarines and target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities and, he claimed, be impossible to track.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has developed and successfully tested new nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered underwater drone, that would be immune, the Russian leader claimed, to enemy intercept.

In his annual address in Moscow on 1 March, Putin said that the newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat had an unlimited range and was capable of penetrating any antimissile system.

Using graphics and video, Putin said a new deep-water missile could be launched from submarines and target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities and, he claimed, be impossible to track.

Putin said that a new strategic aircraft armed with cruise missiles had been successfully tested and was now in production.

Putin emphasizes these new weapons were not part of the Soviet legacy, but had been developed by Russian scientists and engineers from across the country.

Putin claimed some of the new Russian weapons system were unrivaled in the world.

Putin earlier said that Russia needed to focus on raising the living standards of its citizens.

He said Russia needed to make a technological breakthrough to set the foundation for future development.

He warned Russia risked “losing its sovereignty” if it failed to move forward economically.

Putin also said more should be done to tackle poverty, noting that 20 million Russians currently live below the official poverty line.

He also said that Russia must take steps to improve the health-care system.

Regarding the military, Putin said Russia was upgrading its infrastructure in the Arctic region to safeguard its interests.

The speech comes ahead of the March 18 presidential election that Putin is expected to win easily.

The address is one of three regularly scheduled national appearances Putin makes each year — the others being a lavish question-and-answer session with the public and a stage-managed annual press conference.

It is the 14th time Putin has given the address, before an audience that traditionally includes both houses of the legislature, or Federal Assembly; government ministers; judges from the Constitutional and Supreme courts; leading regional officials; and other members of the political elite.

In the past, the address has normally lasted about one hour.

The constitutionally mandated address is normally given in December in the lavish St. George’s hall in the Kremlin.

This year, however, it was relocated to the Manezh hall just off Red Square and repeatedly postponed, moves that observers say was intended to bolster Putin’s reelection campaign.

Even though the address is being given in the name of the president and not the