Russia has revealed its biggest ever nuclear missile which is powerful enough to destroy a country as big as France with a single strike.

Vladimir Putin is seeking to replace his arsenal of SS-18 Satan weapons with the new RS-28 Sarmat super-nukes.

They are packed with up to 16 nuclear warheads according to pictures revealed online from the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau.

The weapons – which will be ready for launch in 2018 – will make the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like “popguns”, experts have said.

A message posted alongside the picture said: “In accordance with the Decree of the Russian Government 'On the State Defense Order for 2010 and the planning period 2012-2013', the Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau was instructed to start design and development work on the Sarmat.

"In June 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense signed a state contract for the Sarmat's development.

"The prospective strategic missile system is being developed in order to create an assured and effective nuclear deterrent for Russia's strategic forces.”

Moscow weapons experts have said the so-called Satan 2 will be able to evade radar defences and could travel far enough to strike London or the East and West Coast of the US, according to the Daily Star.

Tensions between the UK and Russia are at breaking point with prime minister Theresa May having recently blasted Putin for "undermining the West's efforts" to provide a political settlement in Syria.

(Mirror)