Russia commissions intercontinental hypersonic weapon

MOSCOW —  Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that a new hypersonic weapon of intercontinental range became operational Friday following years of tests.

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

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

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

Earlier this week, Putin emphasized that Russia is the only country armed with hypersonic weapons. He said that Russia is now leading the world for the first time in history in developing a new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the United States.

The military said that the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound.

Russian media reports indicated that the Avangard will first be mounted on Soviet-built RS-18B intercontinental ballistic missiles, code-named SS-19 by NATO. It is expected to be fitted to the prospective Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile after it becomes operational.

The Defense Ministry said last month that it demonstrated the Avangard to a team of U.S. inspectors as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the U.S.

The U.S. has mulled new defense strategies to counter hypersonic weapons developed by Russia and China.

U.S. 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 U.S. can strike incoming enemy missiles during the first minutes of flight when the booster engines are still burning.

The Pentagon also has been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in August that he believes “it’s probably a matter of a couple of years” before the U.S. has one. He has called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range fire capabilities.