Three prototypes of the advanced Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will undergo pop-up tests at the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk Region in north Russia before mid-2018, a source in Russia’s defense industry told TASS.

The Sarmat is the latest generation of Russian-made ICBM InterContinental Ballistic Missile.

"The first pop-up test will take place in the fourth quarter of the year, in October. The second and the third pop-up tests are scheduled for the first half of 2018," the source said.

According to the source, all the three tests will start in the same manner. The work of the solid-propellant hot gas generator will be checked when the missile is pushed out of the silo to an altitude of about 30 meters. The operating time of the missile’s engines is different.

"Mockups with the same size and weight as the warhead will be mounted on the prototypes," the source said.
According to the source, the first prototype has been delivered to the Plesetsk cosmodrome.

"The second and the third prototypes are being produced by the Krasmash Company. They are expected to be assembled by late 2017," the source added.
TASS does not have any official confirmation of this information.

The pop-up tests of the advanced Russian-made Sarmat ICBM designed to replace the Voyevoda missile have been postponed several times. Last time, they were scheduled for March 2017 but were put off as it was necessary "to complete the full cycle of trials on new test benches of the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant," another source in the Russian defense industry told TASS at that time.

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