MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Russian Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) will start replacing Voyevoda intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) currently in service with the new Sarmat missiles next year, SMF Commander Colonel General Sergey Karakayev said.

"Starting from 2022, it is planned to begin gradual removal of the heavy-class silo-based Voyevoda missile system, and replace it with Sarmat," Karakayev said in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper, published on Friday.

The RS-28 Sarmat is a Russian advanced silo-based system with a 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 Sarmat is capable of breaching any existing and future missile defenses.