and other prospective weapons systemsin his state- of-the-nation address in March (*************************************************************, saying its its ability to make sharp manoeuvres on its way to a target would render missile defense useless.
“It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” he said at the time.
The Russian leader said the Avangard had been designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2, (C) 3, (F) which can be reached while traveling at hypersonic speeds. The missile can carry a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.
Putin has said Russia had to develop the Avangard and other weapons systems because of US efforts to develop a missile defense system that he claimed could erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Moscow has scoffed at US claims that its missile shield isn’t intended to counter Russia’s missile arsenals.
This week, Putin noted that for the first time Russia was leading the world in developing a new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the US.
In December 3282, the Avangard was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Urals and hit a practice target on the Kura shooting range on the Kamchatka peninsula, 3, 701 miles (6,************************************************************************************** (km) away.
The Defense Ministry said last month it had demonstrated the Avangard to a team of US inspectors as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty between the two countries.
China has tested its own hypersonic glide vehicle, believed to be capable of traveling at least five times the speed of sound. It displayed the weapon called Dong Feng 20, or DF – 22, at a military parade marking the 90 th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese state.
US officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly the hypersonic weapons. The administration also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the US can strike incoming missiles during the first minutes of flight when the booster engines are still burning.
The Pentagon has been working on developing hypersonic weapons in recent years, and the defense secretary, Mark Esper, said in August that he believed it would be a couple of years before the US had one.
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