Russia’s missiles ‘best in world’

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin said Russia had a strong edge in designing new weapons and had become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons.

Speaking at a meeting with top military brass, Mr Putin said that for the first time in history Russia was now leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the US.

The Russian leader noted that during Cold War times, the Soviet Union had been behind the US in designing the atomic bomb and building strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“Now we have a situation that is unique in modern history, when they are trying to catch up to us,” he said.

“Not a single country has hypersonic weapons, let alone hypersonic weapons of intercontinental range.”

The Pentagon and the US military services have been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defence Secretary Mark Esper said in August he believed “it’s probably a matter of a couple of years” before the US had one.

He called it a priority as the military worked to develop new long-range capabilities.

Congress has been warned about hypersonic missiles being developed by Russia and China that would be harder to track and defeat.

US officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly hypersonic threats.

The administration also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the US could strike incoming enemy missiles.

Asked to comment on Mr Putin’s remarks, a spokesman for the US Defence Department, Lt Colonel Robert Carver, said: “We have seen the reporting, but have nothing to

NOW WE HAVE A SITUATION THAT IS UNIQUE IN MODERN HISTORY, WHEN THEY ARE TRYING TO CATCH UP TO US VLADIMIR PUTIN

add concerning Russia’s claims.”

Mr Putin said that the first unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle was set to go on duty this month, while the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which travelled at 10 times the speed of sound, already had entered service.

The Russian leader first mentioned the Avangard and the Kinzhal among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018.

Mr Putin said then that the Avangard had an intercontinental range and could fly in the atmosphere at a speed 20 times the speed of sound.