The missile [not pictured] has been designed with stealth technology

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The devastatingly-powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which replaces an earlier version codenamed 'Satan' by Nato, is thought to be the largest atomic weapon-carrying rocket ever produced - capable of housing as many as a dozen warheads inside its shell.

Russian media said the rocket could "erase from the face of the earth land plots the size of Texas", in comments that could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate the US.

Worryingly, the missile has been designed with stealth technology which enables it to be fired at a target without being picked up by radar systems.