Iran Press/ Europe: "On my instructions the industrial enterprises and the Defense Ministry have prepared for and carried out the final test of the cutting-edge Avangard hypersonic missile system," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with members of his government on Wednesday
"The test of the hypersonic missile system was completely successful; all technical parameters were verified," Russian President noted after the test, Iran Press reported.
"The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defense means of the potential adversary," Putin said.
When first unveiling the Avangard in his state-of-the-nation address in March, Putin said: "The hypersonic system has an intercontinental range and could reach speeds 20 times faster than the speed of sound when flying in the atmosphere.
The test on Wednesday saw an Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in Russia’s southern Ural Mountains, successfully hitting its designated target 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away in Kamchatka’s Kura shooting range.
This, according to Russian president, allows the missile to bypass all of world’s existing missile defense systems.
Read More:
Putin says Russia 'will certainly respond' to America's exit from INF treaty
Emphasizing that no other country in the world had hypersonic weapons, Putin said: "Then that the Avangard could fly so fast because of the new composite materials that allow it to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit) caused by hypersonic flights through the atmosphere."
Avangard’s test comes 16 years after former US President George W. Bush abandoned the 1972 the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which banned the US and the Soviet Union from developing more than two ABM complexes at the same time.
Russian President said that the advanced system would enter service next year as a new addition to the country’s arsenal of strategic weapons.
“It’s a big moment in the life of the armed forces and in the life of the country. Russia has obtained a new type of strategic weapon,” Putin added.
The Avangard is one of the many new nuclear weapons that Russia has in development.
Russia is planning to modernize its strategic and conventional weapons in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw from the Soviet-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which bans the two sides from developing land-based missile systems ranging from 310 to 3,400 miles.105/201
Read More:
Putin warns on possibility of nuclear war, planet destruction
