Russia commissions intercontinental hypersonic weapon

RMOSCOW (AP):

USSIA’S DEFENCE minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that a new hypersonic weapon of intercontinental range became operational Friday, following years of tests.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty, the Defence Ministry said.

“I congratulate you on this landmark event for the military and the entire nation,” Shoigu said later during a conference call with the top military brass.

The Strategic Missile Forces chief, General Sergei Karakayev, said during the call that the Avangard was put on duty with a unit in the Orenburg region in the southern Ural Mountains.

Putin unveiled the Avangard among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018, noting that its ability to make sharp manoeuvres on its way to a target will render missile defence useless.

“It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” he said then.

Putin described the Avangard’s creation as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.

The Russian leader noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit), resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

Putin has charged that Russia had to develop the Avangard and other prospective weapons systems because of the US efforts to develop a missile defence system that he claimed could erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has scoffed at the US claims that its missile shield isn’t intended to counter Russia’s massive missile arsenals.

Earlier this week, Putin emphasised that Russia is the only country armed with hypersonic weapons. He noted that for the first time in history Russia is 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 military said that the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS In this photo taken from undated footage distributed by Russian Defence Ministry Press Service, an intercontinental ballistic missile lifts off from a truck-mounted launcher somewhere in Russia. The Russian military said the Avangard hypersonic weapon entered combat duty on Friday. The Kremlin has made modernisation of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces one of its top priorities.

AP Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the State Council meeting on the agricultural policy at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, December 26, 2019.