The Kremlin has high hopes on new nuclear weapons but with "Sarmato" Problem

However, the work on Sarmat missile complex, the most powerful nuclear missile in the strategic arsenal of Moscow, has long been behind the schedule and today only one of its successful flight test has been recorded. The state of affairs in the field of nuclear weapons of the Russian Federation was told on February 1, Defense News.

The authors of the material drew attention to the statement of the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexei Kryvoruchka, who said on January 26 that the main tasks for 2024 were the receipt of the strategic missile system "Sarmat", the bombers of Tu-160m and the atomic submarine - "Prince Pozharsky". According to him, the key is "the unconditional and rhythmic execution of schedules for the supply of particularly demanded weapons and military equipment, as well as other tasks.

" However, Russians do not have everything smooth in this area. The investigators explained that the production and testing of the Sarmat missile are run by Roscosmos, which suffers from low profitability, accumulated debts and losses that have increased. Thus, in December 2023, the CEO of the State Corporation Yuriy Borisov said that Roscosmos lost $ 2 billion in export revenue due to the strong influence of sanctions.

"Closing access to Western technologies and accessories has required the search for alternative options, which led to the fact that Roscosmos enterprises have additional costs as the timing of the equipment supply approaches," experts said. Sanctional restrictions also led to the fact that from 2019 to 2021 the corporation dismissed 17,000 employees, and in 2023 halved the staff of the central office.

Roscosmos subsidiaries that are involved in Sarmata's production are also undergoing financial difficulties. For example, the Proton-PM plant, which produces a rocket motion installation, was confronted with restriction of access to western equipment, tools, raw materials of imported origin and increasing percentage load on loans. Instead, the plant purchased Russian, Belarusian or Chinese machine and foundry. This confession came from the director of the enterprise Ivan Krasnov.

The situation is not the best at the design bureau of chemical automation (KBH), which is working on the second degree of rocket. The observers write that the enterprise is experiencing a chronic shortage of working capital. "After the war, the money appeared, but although the salary of employees came again on time, other contractors still have difficulty in receiving funds. The management was also unable to modernize the workshops, as promised at the end of 2021," - summed up in Defense News .