TEHRAN (Iran News) – Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it demonstrated its latest weapon, Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, to a team of US inspectors this week as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the US. “The demonstration of the weapon took place on Nov. 24-26 under the Russian-US […]
TEHRAN (Iran News) – Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that it demonstrated its latest weapon, Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, to a team of US inspectors this week as part of transparency measures under the New Start nuclear arms treaty with the US.
“The demonstration of the weapon took place on Nov. 24-26 under the Russian-US Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms,” the ministry’s Zvezda broadcasting service said.
It said the Russian latest defense weapon, intercontinental missile system, will be put on combat duty in December.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the Avangard in 2018 along with other prospective weapons, noting that its ability to make sharp maneuvers on its way to a target will render missile defense useless.
The military said the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound.
Putin said its creation represented a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite.
During the test launch, the missile covered a distance of over 6,000 km between the Orenburg Region in the Urals and the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East before hitting a target.
The Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, commonly known as New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or New START, entered into force in 2011 and is expected to last at least until 2021.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
