The infrastructure for deploying Russia’s most advanced Sarmat Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) has been fully prepared, Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov said in an interview published in the business daily Kommersant.

“Over the past few years, we have created modern infrastructure for deploying Yars complexes and the infrastructure for the Sarmat missile system has already been prepared. The most complex facilities have been put into operation and radar stations are already on combat duty in their high operational readiness,” the newspaper quoted the Deputy Defense Minister as saying.

Russia has also reconstructed 19 airfields for the Aerospace Force and built 11 hydro-technical structures and 23 coastal facilities for the Navy, he added.

“The results are very substantial and we will be stepping up the pace of building the infrastructure,” the Deputy Defense Minister added.

The RS-28 Sarmat is the Russian advanced silo-based system with the heavy liquid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile. It has been in the process of its development since the 2000s to replace the R-36M2 Voyevoda ICBM.

It weighs about 200 tonnes and has a throw weight of around 10 tonnes. The media reported in late December 2017 about the first successful pop-up test of the Sarmat ICBM.