Move FM Global News

MOSCOW, Russia – Months after unveiling a new generation of “invincible weaponry,” the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the successful test of the country’s new missile system – the Avangard.

On Wednesday, Putin oversaw a pre-deployment test of the new missile system, calling the test a “great success” and an “excellent New Year’s gift to the nation.”

In March this year, delivering one of his most bellicose speeches in years, Putin had revealed details of Russia’s plans for the future of its military and had detailed an array of new nuclear weapons.

Describing the Avangard during his annual address, the Russian President had stated that the new missile system would be part of a new generation of “invincible” weaponry.

He pointed out that Russia had to develop new weapons in response to the development of the U.S. missile defense system that could erode Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

After watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle from the Defense Ministry’s control room on Wednesday, Putin declared in a televised meeting with Russia’s top military brass, that the new weapon will ensure Russia’s security for decades to come. 

Putin announced, “On my instructions, the Ministry of Defence prepared and conducted a final test of this system. This has just been completed with absolute success.”

The Russian President has described the new hypersonic glide vehicle as being impossible to intercept.

He said, “The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defense means of the potential adversary.”

He added that the new missile defense system has an intercontinental range and “can fly in the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound, bypassing the enemy’s missile defense.”

Previously, Putin has emphasized on the fact that no other country currently has hypersonic weapons and announced on Wednesday that Russia would deploy its first regiment of hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles with the military’s Strategic Missile Forces next year. 

Putin said, “From next year, 2019, Russia’s armed forces will get the new intercontinental strategic system Avangard… 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.”

According to the Kremlin, the new hypersonic glide vehicle was launched from southwest Russia and hit a target in the Russian Far East.

The Kremlin announced, “An Avangard missile was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. It successfully hit a designated practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) away.”

The Kremlin said that the new hypersonic missile is highly maneuverable as it can fly at 20 times the speed of sound and manoeuvre up and down – which means that it could easily evade missile defense systems.

It added that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 degrees Celsius (3,632 degrees Fahrenheit) that come from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

The Kremlin has also pointed out that the new weapon could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.

Timing of deployment

The final test of the new missile defense system by Russia and Putin’s declaration of its deployment into the. country’s Strategic Missile Forces in 2019 have both come at a time when ties between Russia and the U.S. have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War times. 

This year, despite efforts by both the Russian President and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to repair ties between the two countries, relations between Washington and Moscow have suffered due to the escalating conflict in Ukraine, the war in Syria and a widening investigation into allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Tensions have further escalated since the U.S. administration has slapped Russia with new waves of sanctions.

Now, Russia’s final test of the new missile defense system comes after Trump announced plans to pull out of a key Cold War-era nuclear weapons pact – the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). 

The Russian President has threatened to develop the missiles that have been banned under the deal if the U.S. abandons the three-decade-old treaty.