AFP, Moscow :
Russia touted Thursday a new hypersonic missile said to hit speeds of more than 30,000 kilometres per hour, amid heightened tension with the US over arms control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday tracked final tests of a hypersonic missile dubbed “Avangard,” which he says would defeat all existing missile defence systems.
When Putin unveiled the new weapon during his state of the nation address in March, he said the missile was highly manoeuvrable and flew at 20 times the speed of sound.
Senior officials now say the intercontinental projectile is considerably faster.
“During tests, Avangard reached the speed of Mach 27,” or roughly 33,000 kilometres (20,500 miles) per hour, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said in televised remarks.Mach 1 is a unit of measurement equivalent to the speed of sound.
“At this speed not a single intercepter missile can shoot it down,” Borisov said.
He also claimed it was impossible to predict the missile’s movements, which meant “missile defence is practically rendered obsolete.”
Putin termed the final test an “absolute success,” and said Avangard would be deployed next year.
The Bell, an independent media outlet, said Putin was so excited about Wednesday’s tests that he told Russian businessmen about them later in the day and said that no one could threaten Russia now because it has such advanced weapons.
Last week Putin laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF).
The bilateral agreement forbids ground-launched short- and intermediate-range missiles, but not those launched from the air or sea.
Putin said that seaborne Kalibr and air-launched Kh-101 cruise missiles — and another hypersonic missile dubbed Kinzhal (Dagger) — would be adapted for ground launch if Washington ditched the INF treaty.
Russia’s new strategic weapon has rendered any missile defenses useless at a small fraction of their cost, officials said Thursday.
The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian state television.
The new weapon “essentially makes missile defenses useless,” he said.
Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia’s security for decades to come.
In Wednesday’s test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.
The Defense Ministry released footage from the test launch, in which a ballistic missile could be seen blasting from a silo in a cloud of smoke, but it hasn’t released any images of the vehicle itself.
Putin said the Avangard will enter service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces next year.
The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-U.S. relations, which have been strained over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defense minister, said in televised comments that the Avangard constantly changes its course and altitude as it flies through the atmosphere.
He emphasized that unlike previous nuclear warheads fitted to intercontinental ballistic missiles that follow a predictable trajectory allowing it to calculate the spot where they can be intercepted, the Avangard chaotically zigzags on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon’s location.
Russia touted Thursday a new hypersonic missile said to hit speeds of more than 30,000 kilometres per hour, amid heightened tension with the US over arms control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday tracked final tests of a hypersonic missile dubbed “Avangard,” which he says would defeat all existing missile defence systems.
When Putin unveiled the new weapon during his state of the nation address in March, he said the missile was highly manoeuvrable and flew at 20 times the speed of sound.
Senior officials now say the intercontinental projectile is considerably faster.
“During tests, Avangard reached the speed of Mach 27,” or roughly 33,000 kilometres (20,500 miles) per hour, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said in televised remarks.Mach 1 is a unit of measurement equivalent to the speed of sound.
“At this speed not a single intercepter missile can shoot it down,” Borisov said.
He also claimed it was impossible to predict the missile’s movements, which meant “missile defence is practically rendered obsolete.”
Putin termed the final test an “absolute success,” and said Avangard would be deployed next year.
The Bell, an independent media outlet, said Putin was so excited about Wednesday’s tests that he told Russian businessmen about them later in the day and said that no one could threaten Russia now because it has such advanced weapons.
Last week Putin laid out plans for Moscow to develop mid-range missiles banned under a Cold War treaty with the United States if Washington abandons the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF).
The bilateral agreement forbids ground-launched short- and intermediate-range missiles, but not those launched from the air or sea.
Putin said that seaborne Kalibr and air-launched Kh-101 cruise missiles — and another hypersonic missile dubbed Kinzhal (Dagger) — would be adapted for ground launch if Washington ditched the INF treaty.
Russia’s new strategic weapon has rendered any missile defenses useless at a small fraction of their cost, officials said Thursday.
The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle flies 27 times faster than the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian state television.
The new weapon “essentially makes missile defenses useless,” he said.
Borisov spoke a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw what he described as the conclusive successful test of the Avangard and hailed it as a reliable guarantee of Russia’s security for decades to come.
In Wednesday’s test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.
The Defense Ministry released footage from the test launch, in which a ballistic missile could be seen blasting from a silo in a cloud of smoke, but it hasn’t released any images of the vehicle itself.
Putin said the Avangard will enter service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces next year.
The test comes amid bitter tensions in Russia-U.S. relations, which have been strained over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and the allegations of Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Sergei Ivanov, a former Russian defense minister, said in televised comments that the Avangard constantly changes its course and altitude as it flies through the atmosphere.
He emphasized that unlike previous nuclear warheads fitted to intercontinental ballistic missiles that follow a predictable trajectory allowing it to calculate the spot where they can be intercepted, the Avangard chaotically zigzags on its path to its target, making it impossible to predict the weapon’s location.
