Russia rolls out first hypersonic weapon as China continues testing, putting US on edge
by Jordan Hilger, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – A Russian missile vehicle capable of traveling 27 times the speed of sound went operational Friday, which in its testing phase Vladimir Putin compared to Russia’s launch of the first satellite, Sputnik I, in 1957.
The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle was activated with a Russian military outfit in the Orenburg region of the southern Ural Mountains, according to General Sergei Karakayev, the Strategic Missile Forces chief.
“It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” Russian President Putin said in a 2018 speech revealing his country’s plans to launch the new line of missile technology.
The Avangard can withstand upper atmosphere temperatures of 3,632 degrees Fahrenheit, can carry a 2 megaton nuclear warhead, and can maneuver on a dime on its way to its target, rendering conventional missile defense systems obsolete.
American Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US intends to develop hypersonic weapons within “a couple of years,” but so far only Russia and China have tested the new technology.