Near Missile

Speak of the devil — Russian President Vladimir Putin has happily announced the country’s so-called “Satan II” rocket is ready for deployment this year.

Yesterday, the Independent reported that the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), also evocatively known as the Satan II, is nuclear capable and can hold 10 or more warheads. It’s also so fast that the outlet said the missile could strike Europe in minutes. It’s about 7,800 miles between the US White House and Moscow as the crow flies, so since Satan II can travel at Mach 5 speeds, or about five times the speed of sound, it would take about two hours to strike the US.

“We will continue to develop and strengthen our armed forces, taking into account potential military threats and risks,” Putin said in a statement the Independent published. “With courage [and] professionalism, like real heroes.”

Devil Dog

Putin said the missile will be ready for combat duty later in 2022, whatever that implies.

Knowing the Kremlim can strike pretty much any global target at any time is terrifying, though to be fair, that’s already been true for a long time.

Russia has taken ever more aggressive stances toward the West and any country allied with Ukraine since it began its bloody invasion, even threatening other countries for wanting to join NATO. Putin’s henchmen seem just as trigger happy, because back in April of this year the surly and confusing head of the Russian space program basically said the rest of the world should walk on eggshells.

“I suggest that aggressors speak to us more politely,” Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said of the Satan II missile in May of this year, according to the New York Post

What comes next is anyone’s guess.

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