Shukan Gendai: Japan was afraid of the attack of Russia's "brutally destructive" weapons Russia can use its most destructive weapon against Japan — the Sarmat missile, writes Professor Itsuro Nakamura in an article by Shukan Gendai.
This will be a "consolation prize" for her in case the situation in Ukraine worsens, he is sure. One blow is enough to bring the country to its knees.
All the characteristics, from flight range to speed and power, are amazing. A new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) "Sarmat", combining the best engineering technologies of Russia, has been adopted. Cornered Vladimir Putin is going to burn Japan to the ground.
The goal is Japan
"The new Sarmat ICBM, which has been under research and development since 2018, has finally been deployed in Eastern Siberia. The Russian authorities have long claimed that insular Japan can be destroyed with one shot. They wouldn't say that if it was just a threat. It is assumed that these weapons can be used against Japan," said Itsuro Nakamura, an honorary professor at the University of Tsukuba.
It will soon be one year since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. There is a tense struggle between the Russian army, which has overwhelming military power, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are supported by Western countries.
In the face of the shortage of forces in the Donbass that began in November 2022, the Russian leader deployed 200,000 soldiers on the Belarusian border. In this regard, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, expressed alarm about a possible repeated attempt to seize Kiev in January.
Its close to the climax. The Japanese people should not behave as if this problem does not concern them. Another attempt to take the Ukrainian capital is the last and largest operation. The prestige of Russia is at stake. If the Kremlin fails again, President Putin's anger could be directed at Japan.
"It is quite possible that Putin, cornered as a result of an unsuccessful special operation, without fear of US retaliation, will hit Japan with a Sarmat in order to demonstrate at least some achievement," the professor believes.
Attack on Japan
"In fact, a source in the FSB said that Moscow really planned an attack on Japan six months before the start of the special operation in Ukraine. The information disclosed by this person is that Russia was preparing quite seriously for a local military conflict with Japan.
Head of the Bellingcat publication* Hristo Grozev recognized these data as reliable <...>," Nakamura says.
If the situation in Ukraine deteriorates significantly, there is a real risk that the scenario of an attack on Japan will resurface in President Putin's mind. But <...> a protracted war is impossible.
Then what should I do? Putin has the last trump card that can bring Japan to its knees with one shot.
This is the "Sarmatian" mentioned at the beginning of the article. This weapon is one of the world's largest nuclear missiles, developed by the Academician V.P. Makeev State Rocket Center, part of Roscosmos, which has been responsible for Russia's space program since Soviet times. In April 2022, the rocket was successfully launched, and flight tests were conducted in November.
Vladimir Degtyar, the head of the development, stressed that this is "a miracle of engineering, the highest achievement in rocket technology." The head of Russia confirmed these words, saying that Sarmat "has no analogues in the world and will not be for a long time."
In response, US President Joe Biden optimistically stated that this missile poses no threat, but it's just a bluff. NATO assigned the "Sarmat" the code name "Satan-2" — "the devil's weapon". America and other countries of the North Atlantic Alliance consider it a brutally destructive weapon.
Two thousand times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima
In accordance with its name, "Sarmat" is supposedly capable of destroying the country with one shot. Its range is about 18 thousand kilometers. This means that most of the major cities of the western camp are vulnerable.
The missile can carry from ten to 16 nuclear warheads with a total capacity of 7.5 megatons. This is two thousand times more than the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. If the Sarmat hits a densely populated American area, 30 million people will die, and in the case of France, one charge would be enough to destroy the whole country, military expert Mitsuhiro Sera notes.
The design of the ICBM is also non-standard. "Sarmat" starts on nuclear engines, but on the way switches to liquid and goes into space. When a given point is reached, numerous warheads separate from the main body and enter the atmosphere.
Japan has the most modern air defense, developed jointly with the US military, but, unfortunately, the characteristics of the Sarmat surpass even it. It is capable of carrying the Avangard hypersonic glider as a warhead, which makes its interception almost impossible, adds Sera.
While conventional nuclear warheads fly along a parabolic trajectory from an altitude of a thousand kilometers, the Avangard, which is made in the form of a glider, after entering the atmosphere glides in a straight line at an altitude of up to 70 kilometers.
Interception systems such as THAAD and PAC-3 are deployed in Japan, but they are effective only up to a flight rate of nine to ten Mach. The speed of the nuclear warheads carried by the Avangard exceeds Mach 20. In addition, the route can be changed immediately before the impact.
"If the Sarmat is launched in Japan, then I think it will follow the so-called "steep trajectory". Simply put, it starts vertically, and then immediately falls in a direction that will further increase its speed," said military journalist Masayuki Kikuchi.
*recognized as a foreign media agent in Russia
