The world's most powerful men represent the vast majority of global military might and yet at the same time, possess unique character traits which seem to subvert their positions of power. Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea (a non signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty) has up to 60 nuclear weapons and is working on a long-range nuclear missile able to reach US and Australia. Donald Trump, relatively inexperienced with politics and lacking the usual restraint and statesmanship of his predecessors, has typified his first term thus far with emotional and impulsive outbursts. Experts are concerned he may make mistake which starts a war that America can not back out of. Vladimir Putin, a former spy with strong nationalistic leanings has utilised cyber hacking and other covert means to interfere with foreign elections and international affairs. Russia still has the largest nuclear missile stockpile globally. With these leaders in charge, did the world just become a more dangerous place?

A NEW intercontinental ballistic missile hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as being able to fly over the North or South Poles and strike any target in the world has reportedly been tested for the second time overnight.

Fox News reports that Russia’s defence ministry released a video purportedly showing the Sarmat ICBM blasting off in spectacular fashion from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in its northern Arkhangelsk province, the move coming just hours after the Kremlin announced it would expel 150 western diplomats in retaliation for the response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The video shows the missile — dubbed “Satan 2” by NATO — rising out of the ground and seemingly floating in the air for a brief moment before more flames erupt, kicking up massive clouds of smoke and snow.

“No defence systems will be able to withstand it,” Mr Putin said about the missile during his state-of-the-nation speech in early March.

The test-launch also comes after Mr Putin’s recent re-election and a congratulatory phone call from US President Donald Trump — in which Mr Trump reportedly also warned his Russian counterpart, “if you want to have an arms race we can do that, but I’ll win,” according to two officials that spoke to NBC News.

Days before the launch, the US Navy test-fired its own ICMB from a ballistic missile submarine off the coast of Southern California.

Russia has been working for years to develop a new ICBM to replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the world’s heaviest ICBM and known as “Satan” in the West.

That ICBM carries 10 nuclear warheads, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Putin announced during his March speech the Sarmat missile was undergoing tests and debuted a video purportedly showing its first test launch, which he said happened in December.

Mr Putin said Sarmat weighs 220 tonness and has a higher range than “Satan,” allowing it to fly over both poles of the Earth.

He also said it accelerates faster than its predecessor, making it harder for an enemy to intercept it in its most vulnerable phase after the launch.

Mr Putin added Sarmat also carries more — and more powerful — nuclear warheads than the “Satan” ICBM.

Russian state-run news agency TASS has reported the Sarmat missile will go into mass production in 2020 and is expected to become operational the year after, according to EuroNews.

“No one has listened to us. You listen to us now,” Mr Putin boasted during the March speech, when he revealed other weapons his country apparently has in the works, such as an underwater drone armed with a nuclear warhead powerful enough to sweep away coastal facilities and aircraft carriers, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile that’s “invulnerable to any existing or prospective air and missile defence systems.”

The White House responded to Putin’s March 1 speech by saying he merely confirmed what the US already knows: that Russia has been developing “destabilising weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump understands the threats and that America is “moving forward to modernise our nuclear arsenal and ensure our capabilities are unmatched.”

Another new weapon Mr Putin unveiled during the state-of-the-nation speech, called Avangard, is an intercontinental hypersonic missile that would fly at 20 times the speed of sound and strike its targets “like a meteorite, like a fireball.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission</s>The world's most powerful men represent the vast majority of global military might and yet at the same time, possess unique character traits which seem to subvert their positions of power. Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea (a non signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty) has up to 60 nuclear weapons and is working on a long-range nuclear missile able to reach US and Australia. Donald Trump, relatively inexperienced with politics and lacking the usual restraint and statesmanship of his predecessors, has typified his first term thus far with emotional and impulsive outbursts. Experts are concerned he may make mistake which starts a war that America can not back out of. Vladimir Putin, a former spy with strong nationalistic leanings has utilised cyber hacking and other covert means to interfere with foreign elections and international affairs. Russia still has the largest nuclear missile stockpile globally. With these leaders in charge, did the world just become a more dangerous place?

A NEW intercontinental ballistic missile hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as being able to fly over the North or South Poles and strike any target in the world has reportedly been tested for the second time overnight.

Fox News reports that Russia’s defence ministry released a video purportedly showing the Sarmat ICBM blasting off in spectacular fashion from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in its northern Arkhangelsk province, the move coming just hours after the Kremlin announced it would expel 150 western diplomats in retaliation for the response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The video shows the missile — dubbed “Satan 2” by NATO — rising out of the ground and seemingly floating in the air for a brief moment before more flames erupt, kicking up massive clouds of smoke and snow.

“No defence systems will be able to withstand it,” Mr Putin said about the missile during his state-of-the-nation speech in early March.

The test-launch also comes after Mr Putin’s recent re-election and a congratulatory phone call from US President Donald Trump — in which Mr Trump reportedly also warned his Russian counterpart, “if you want to have an arms race we can do that, but I’ll win,” according to two officials that spoke to NBC News.

Days before the launch, the US Navy test-fired its own ICMB from a ballistic missile submarine off the coast of Southern California.

Russia has been working for years to develop a new ICBM to replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the world’s heaviest ICBM and known as “Satan” in the West.

That ICBM carries 10 nuclear warheads, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Putin announced during his March speech the Sarmat missile was undergoing tests and debuted a video purportedly showing its first test launch, which he said happened in December.

Mr Putin said Sarmat weighs 220 tonness and has a higher range than “Satan,” allowing it to fly over both poles of the Earth.

He also said it accelerates faster than its predecessor, making it harder for an enemy to intercept it in its most vulnerable phase after the launch.

Mr Putin added Sarmat also carries more — and more powerful — nuclear warheads than the “Satan” ICBM.

Russian state-run news agency TASS has reported the Sarmat missile will go into mass production in 2020 and is expected to become operational the year after, according to EuroNews.

“No one has listened to us. You listen to us now,” Mr Putin boasted during the March speech, when he revealed other weapons his country apparently has in the works, such as an underwater drone armed with a nuclear warhead powerful enough to sweep away coastal facilities and aircraft carriers, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile that’s “invulnerable to any existing or prospective air and missile defence systems.”

The White House responded to Putin’s March 1 speech by saying he merely confirmed what the US already knows: that Russia has been developing “destabilising weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump understands the threats and that America is “moving forward to modernise our nuclear arsenal and ensure our capabilities are unmatched.”

Another new weapon Mr Putin unveiled during the state-of-the-nation speech, called Avangard, is an intercontinental hypersonic missile that would fly at 20 times the speed of sound and strike its targets “like a meteorite, like a fireball.”

This article originally appeared on Fox News and is republished here with permission</s>
• Russia says it has tested a new nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile; Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the missile can defeat any US missile defenses.
• Putin and President Donald Trump have been squaring off over who has the better nuclear arsenal, with Trump reportedly telling Putin he would beat him in an arms race.
• Putin and Trump seem on the path toward escalating an arms race that has already produced horrific nuclear devices.

Russia on Friday said it had tested a new type of nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. The country's president, Vladimir Putin, has said the missile can defeat any US missile defenses amid growing talk of an arms race with the US and President Donald Trump.

Putin spent much of his State of the Nation address on March 1 hyping up and showing animations of new nuclear weapons systems Russia was developing. He claimed they could all defeat US missile defenses.

But an arms race requires two to tango, and Trump has also been vocal about establishing US nuclear supremacy. The US also recently conducted a routine test of its Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile, which experts fear has become too accurate and thus spooked Russia.

And the feeling of nuclear inadequacy may be mutual.

This is how you get an arms race

Putin's nuclear chest-thumping "really got under the president's skin," according to a White House official cited by NBC News on Thursday.

On a recent phone call between the two leaders, which made headlines for Trump's decision to congratulate Putin on his less-than-democratic reelection, Trump and Putin reportedly butted heads.

"If you want to have an arms race, we can do that, but I'll win," Trump told him, according to NBC.

Putin said in his address that Russia was working on more and more-varied nuclear weapon delivery systems than the US. Trump has also planned a few new nuclear weapons for the US, but they show a very different philosophy.

While Putin admitted to working on a long-feared "doomsday device" that would render large swaths of the world uninhabitable for decades, Trump's nuclear posture review put forth the idea of building smaller nuclear warheads — with the idea that smaller nukes would be easier to use and less likely to start a massive escalation.

“We had a very good call," Trump said last week of his chat with Putin. "I suspect that we'll probably be meeting in the not-too-distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control, but we will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have.“

The US and Russia once endangered the world with almost 70,000 nukes

In saying he would not allow anyone to match the US's nuclear might, Trump may have unknowingly articulated just how arms races spiral out of control. Because Trump won't allow Russia to catch up with the US's nuclear might, and Russia feels the same way, the two sides seem destined to continue building up arms.

But arms races have come and gone before. At the height of the Cold War, for instance, the US alone had 30,000 nuclear weapons, with Russia holding a similar number.

As the Soviet Union collapsed and a climate of reconciliation allowed for arms control, that number dropped down to today's total of approximately 6,800 nuclear weapons in the US and 7,000 in Russia.

But even with today's limited stockpiles, the US or Russia could single-handedly destroy almost all life on earth. The risk of miscalculation runs high, and even the best-maintained nuclear-arsenal is prone to accidents.</s>Russia’s military on Friday said it had successfully carried out a second test launch of its most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

The country’s defense ministry released a video showing what it said was the launch of a RS-28 ‘Sarmat’ missile from a base in Plesetsk in northwest Russia, close to the Arctic Circle.

Kremlin/EPA via Shutterstock

The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia’s aging, Soviet-era missiles that form the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The Sarmat, which NATO named “Satan 2,” has been in development since at least 2011 and is believed to be able to carry an increased number of nuclear warheads and has an increased range.

The Sarmat was among the arsenal of new “invincible” nuclear weapons that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin touted in a speech in March and that included a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a hypersonic intercontinental missile.

Alexei Nikolskyi/Sputnik/Kremlin via Reuters, FILE

As with the other weapons he unveiled in his speech, Putin hailed the Sarmat as rendering ineffective even the most advanced missile defense systems that the United States might deploy for the foreseeable future.

“No kind of, not even future missile defense systems will offer any trouble to the Russian rocket complex, Sarmat,” Putin said in his state of the nation speech.

Russia’s military said this was the second time it has successfully test-launched a Sarmat. An article announcing the latest launch in the defense ministry publication, Red Star, said the rocket had been tested in its pre-launch and first stage of flight phases.

A defense source told Russia's state news agency on Thursday that the missile will enter service by 2021, with serial production beginning in 2020.

Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP

Experts have said Putin’s claims about the missile were hyperbolic, given that Russia’s current Voyevoda-class ICBMs can already easily overwhelm the U.S.’ missile defenses, as they could have in the Cold War.

The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, meaning that it will be able to rain down individual warheads flying themselves to targets. The massive rocket, which Putin claimed weighs over 200 tons, is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.

Experts have questioned how complete some of the new weapons vaunted by Putin are in reality, noting that they are long-term hedges against advances in missile defense technology. Putin’s boasts also seemed targeted in large part at a domestic audience, shortly ahead of a presidential election.

Russia has long protested the U.S.’ development of a missile defense shield in Europe, which the U.S. argues is intended to guard against North Korea and Iran, but which the Kremlin says can be directed at Russia.

Kremlin handout/EPA/Shutterstock

Putin presented the Sarmat and the other superweapons render missile defense useless and suggested it should prompt the U.S. to abandon the Europe-based shield.

Putin’s saber-rattling with the weapons, which he accompanied in his speech with warnings that the U.S. had failed “to contain Russia,” has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race, as China also works to develop its own next-generation weapons and President Donald Trump has spoken of massively increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Putin has since said he does not want an arms race. President Trump last week said that he expected to meet with Putin in the not too distant future to discuss the issue.</s>Vladimir Putin kicked off March by nuking Florida in a demonstration video to boast about Russia’s new “invincible” weapons. Then, the month somehow grew more dramatic with the U.S., Britain, NATO, and Russia all expelling diplomats after the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy. Amid this chaos, Trump still congratulated Putin on his election win. And how is Putin closing the month? His country test-launched a missile that’s been named “Satan 2” by NATO, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry released the footage for all to witness.

The footage shows the (officially-named RS-28 Sarmat) missile, which is an intercontinental ballistic weapon, blasting off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Satan 2 has actually been in development for years and is said to be able to easily reach either U.S. coast and take out an area the size of Texas. The timing of this footage’s release, however, appears to be no mere coincidence, as tensions continue to confirm that we’re hurtling toward a new Cold War.

The Satan 2 is reportedly capable of carrying a warhead that weighs up to 100 tons, and its range could approach 7000 miles. This ominous video, which shows enormous billows of smoke and flames rising up from the snow, is clearly meant to send a message, which only reinforces recent reports that Trump’s national security advisors warned him, “DO NOT CONGRATULATE.”

As of now, the White House has not officially reacted to this footage.</s>Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — Russia’s military on Friday said it had successfully carried out a second test launch of its most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

The country’s defense ministry released a video showing what it said was the launch of a RS-28 “Sarmat” missile from a base in Plesetsk in northwest Russia, close to the Arctic Circle.

The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia’s aging, Soviet-era missiles, which form the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The Sarmat, which NATO named “Satan 2,” has been in development since at least 2011 and is believed to be able to carry an increased number of nuclear warheads and has an increased range.

The Sarmat was among the arsenal of new “invincible” nuclear weapons that Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, touted in a speech in March and that included a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a hypersonic intercontinental missile.

As with the other weapons he unveiled in his speech, Putin hailed the Sarmat as rendering ineffective even the most advanced missile defense systems that the United States might deploy for the foreseeable future.

“No ‘kind of’ — not even future missile defense systems will offer any trouble to the Russian rocket complex, Sarmat,” Putin said in a speech.

Russia’s military said this was the second time it has successfully test-launched a Sarmat. An article announcing the latest launch in the defense ministry publication, Red Star, said the rocket had been tested in its pre-launch and first stage of flight phases.

A defense source told Russia’s state news agency on Thursday that the missile will enter service by 2021, with serial production beginning in 2020.

Experts have said Putin’s claims about the missile were hyperbolic, given that Russia’s current Voyevoda-class ICBMs can already easily overwhelm the U.S.’ missile defenses, as they could have in the Cold War.

The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, meaning that it will be able to rain down individual warheads flying themselves to targets. The massive rocket, which Putin claimed weighs more than 200 tons, is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.

Experts have questioned how complete some of the new weapons vaunted by Putin are in reality, noting that they are long-term hedges against advances in missile defense technology. Putin’s boasts also seemed targeted in large part at a domestic audience, shortly ahead of a presidential election.

Russia has long protested the U.S.’s development of a missile defense shield in Europe, which the U.S. argued is intended to guard against North Korea and Iran, but which the Kremlin said can be directed at Russia.

Putin’s saber-rattling with the weapons, which he accompanied in his speech with warnings that the U.S. had failed to “contain Russia,” has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race, as China also works to develop its own next-generation weapons and President Donald Trump has spoken of massively increasing the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal.

Putin has since said he does not want an arms race. Trump last week said that he expected to meet with Putin in the not-too-distant future to discuss the issue.</s>Russia’s military on Friday said it had successfully carried out a second test launch of its most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.

The country’s defense ministry released a video showing what it said was the launch of a RS-28 ‘Sarmat’ missile from a base in Plesetsk in northwest Russia, close to the Arctic Circle.

The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia’s aging, Soviet-era missiles that form the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The Sarmat, which NATO named “Satan 2,” has been in development since at least 2011 and is believed to be able to carry an increased number of nuclear warheads and has an increased range.

The Sarmat was among the arsenal of new “invincible” nuclear weapons that Russia’s president Vladimir Putin touted in a speech in March and that included a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a hypersonic intercontinental missile.

As with the other weapons he unveiled in his speech, Putin hailed the Sarmat as rendering ineffective even the most advanced missile defense systems that the United States might deploy for the foreseeable future.

“No kind of, not even future missile defense systems will offer any trouble to the Russian rocket complex, Sarmat,” Putin said in his state of the nation speech.

Russia’s military said this was the second time it has successfully test-launched a Sarmat. An article announcing the latest launch in the defense ministry publication, Red Star, said the rocket had been tested in its pre-launch and first stage of flight phases.

A defense source told Russia's state news agency on Thursday that the missile will enter service by 2021, with serial production beginning in 2020.

Experts have said Putin’s claims about the missile were hyperbolic, given that Russia’s current Voyevoda-class ICBMs can already easily overwhelm the U.S.’ missile defenses, as they could have in the Cold War.

The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, meaning that it will be able to rain down individual warheads flying themselves to targets. The massive rocket, which Putin claimed weighs over 200 tons, is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.

Experts have questioned how complete some of the new weapons vaunted by Putin are in reality, noting that they are long-term hedges against advances in missile defense technology. Putin’s boasts also seemed targeted in large part at a domestic audience, shortly ahead of a presidential election.

Russia has long protested the U.S.’ development of a missile defense shield in Europe, which the U.S. argues is intended to guard against North Korea and Iran, but which the Kremlin says can be directed at Russia.

Putin presented the Sarmat and the other superweapons render missile defense useless and suggested it should prompt the U.S. to abandon the Europe-based shield.

Putin’s saber-rattling with the weapons, which he accompanied in his speech with warnings that the U.S. had failed “to contain Russia,” has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race, as China also works to develop its own next-generation weapons and President Donald Trump has spoken of massively increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Putin has since said he does not want an arms race. President Trump last week said that he expected to meet with Putin in the not too distant future to discuss the issue.</s>Russia's military on Friday said it had successfully carried out a second test launch of its most advanced nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile.The country's defense ministry released a video showing what it said was the launch of a RS-28 'Sarmat' missile from a base in Plesetsk in northwest Russia, close to the Arctic Circle.The Sarmat is a heavy ICBM intended to replace Russia's aging, Soviet-era missiles that form the basis of its nuclear deterrent. The Sarmat, which NATO named "Satan 2," has been in development since at least 2011 and is believed to be able to carry an increased number of nuclear warheads and has an increased range.The Sarmat was among the arsenal of new "invincible" nuclear weapons that Russia's president Vladimir Putin touted in a speech in March and that included a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a hypersonic intercontinental missile.As with the other weapons he unveiled in his speech, Putin hailed the Sarmat as rendering ineffective even the most advanced missile defense systems that the United States might deploy for the foreseeable future."No kind of, not even future missile defense systems will offer any trouble to the Russian rocket complex, Sarmat," Putin said in his state of the nation speech.Russia's military said this was the second time it has successfully test-launched a Sarmat. An article announcing the latest launch in the defense ministry publication, Red Star, said the rocket had been tested in its pre-launch and first stage of flight phases.A defense source told Russia's state news agency on Thursday that the missile will enter service by 2021, with serial production beginning in 2020.Experts have said Putin's claims about the missile were hyperbolic, given that Russia's current Voyevoda-class ICBMs can already easily overwhelm the U.S.' missile defenses, as they could have in the Cold War The chief innovation of the Sarmat is its ability to carry a large number of guided warheads, meaning that it will be able to rain down individual warheads flying themselves to targets. The massive rocket, which Putin claimed weighs over 200 tons, is believed to be able to fly 16,000 miles and is capable of flying over the South Pole to strike the U.S.Experts have questioned how complete some of the new weapons vaunted by Putin are in reality, noting that they are long-term hedges against advances in missile defense technology. Putin's boasts also seemed targeted in large part at a domestic audience, shortly ahead of a presidential election.Russia has long protested the U.S.' development of a missile defense shield in Europe, which the U.S. argues is intended to guard against North Korea and Iran, but which the Kremlin says can be directed at Russia.Putin presented the Sarmat and the other superweapons render missile defense useless and suggested it should prompt the U.S. to abandon the Europe-based shield.Putin's saber-rattling with the weapons, which he accompanied in his speech with warnings that the U.S. had failed "to contain Russia," has prompted fears of a new nuclear arms race, as China also works to develop its own next-generation weapons and President Donald Trump has spoken of massively increasing the U.S. nuclear arsenal.Putin has since said he does not want an arms race. President Trump last week said that he expected to meet with Putin in the not too distant future to discuss the issue.</s>Vladimir Putin today answered his Western critics by demonstrating a fearsome test firing of Russia’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.

The “invincible” 4,000mph hypersonic weapon emerged from an underground silo, paused as if hovering above the ground and then sped away in a cloud of white smoke.

The launch was at the snow -covered Plesetsk spaceport in northern Russia.

It comes amid the greatest tension between Russia and the West since the end of the Cold War with tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions over the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Britain.

The new launch is shown on a 23-second video from the Russian defence ministry.

The ICMB was fired for the second time since tests began last December , say Moscow officials.

"This new test at the Plesetsk spaceport confirmed its characteristics during the pre-launch and initial flight phases," the ministry said in a statement published in its Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper.

Putin said during his annual state of the nation parliamentary address this month that Russia had begun actively testing the Sarmat - known to NATO as the SS-X-32 SNOWFLAKE.

It is expected to go operational in 2021 with the the Uzhur-based strategic missile force division.

In order to intercept a Sarmat, at least 500 American ABM missiles would be needed, according to Viktor Bondarev, chairman of Russian senate’s Defence and Security Committee and until recently commander of the country’s aerospace forces.

"That is the conclusion of Western experts,” he claimed.

After Putin boasted about the Sarmat, Western experts had expressed scepticism on how close Moscow was to operational use.

But US officials have sounded a growing alarm about the potential threat from hypersonic weapons - those that can travel at five times the speed of sound or more.</s>A new intercontinental ballistic missile hailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as being able to fly over the North or South Poles and strike any target in the world reportedly was test-launched for the second time Friday.

Russia’s defense ministry released a video purportedly showing the Sarmat ICBM blasting off in spectacular fashion from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in its northern Arkhangelsk province, the move coming just hours after the Kremlin announced it would expel 60 American diplomats and close the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg in retaliation for U.S. measures taken in response to the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Britain.

The video shows the missile – dubbed “Satan 2” by NATO — rising out of the ground and seemingly floating in the air for a brief moment before more flames erupt, kicking up massive clouds of smoke and snow.

“No defense systems will be able to withstand it,” Putin said about the missile during his state-of-the-nation speech in early March.

The test-launch also comes after Putin’s recent re-election and a congratulatory phone call from President Trump — in which Trump reportedly also warned his Russian counterpart, “if you want to have an arms race we can do that, but I’ll win,” according to two officials that spoke to NBC News. Days before the launch, the U.S. Navy test-fired its own ICMB from a ballistic missile submarine off the coast of Southern California.

Russia has been working for years to develop a new ICBM to replace the Soviet-designed Voyevoda, the world’s heaviest ICBM and known as “Satan” in the West. That ICBM carries 10 nuclear warheads, the Associated Press reported. Putin announced during his March speech the Sarmat missile was undergoing tests and debuted a video purportedly showing its first test launch, which he said happened in December.

Putin said Sarmat weighs 220 tons and has a higher range than “Satan,” allowing it to fly over both poles of the Earth. He also said it accelerates faster than its predecessor, making it harder for an enemy to intercept it in its most vulnerable phase after the launch. Putin added Sarmat also carries more — and more powerful — nuclear warheads than the “Satan” ICBM.

Russian state-run news agency TASS has reported the Sarmat missile will go into mass production in 2020 and is expected to become operational the year after, according to EuroNews.

“No one has listened to us. You listen to us now,” Putin boasted during the March speech, when he revealed other weapons his country apparently has in the works, such as an underwater drone armed with a nuclear warhead powerful enough to sweep away coastal facilities and aircraft carriers, and a nuclear-powered cruise missile that’s “invulnerable to any existing or prospective air and missile defense systems.”

The White House responded to Putin’s March speech by saying he merely confirmed what the U.S. already knows: that Russia has been developing “destabilizing weapons systems for over a decade in direct violations of its treaty obligations.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump understands the threats and that America is “moving forward to modernize our nuclear arsenal and ensure our capabilities are unmatched.”

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White also said the Defense Department wasn’t surprised by Putin’s bluster, adding the U.S. military is prepared to defend the nation.

“You will have to assess that new reality and become convinced that what I said today isn’t a bluff,” Putin had said. “It’s not a bluff, trust me.”

He said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense “useless,” putting an end to what he described as years of Western efforts to sidetrack and weaken Russia.

“I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful restrictions and sanctions aimed to contain our country’s development: All what you wanted to impede with your policies has now happened,” he said. “You have failed to contain Russia.”

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said it was “unfortunate” to watch animation depicting “a nuclear attack on the United States” that accompanied Putin’s speech, calling the video “cheesy” and adding “we don’t think it’s responsible.”

Another new weapon Putin unveiled during the state-of-the-nation speech, called Avangard, is an intercontinental hypersonic missile that would fly at 20 times the speed of sound and strike its targets “like a meteorite, like a fireball.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Russian military announces a second test of its most advanced nuclear ICBM, the RS-28 Sarmat, from a base in Plesetsk. President Vladimir Putin claimed in his March 1 state of the nation speech that the new nuclear arsenal will be impossible for U.S.-engineered technology to intercept.