Russian President Vladimir Putin has on Wednesday, declared the successful launching and final testing of the “Avangard” system, a new hypersonic nuclear weapon, from the national defence control centre in Moscow.
According to news reports, while speaking at an end-of-year meeting with Russian government, Putin said the nuclear weapon missile named as “Avangard” had been launched in European Russia from Orenburg region to hit its target in the eastern Kamchatka, 4,000 miles away.
Putin said it was a successful event that would felt beyond the national borders, an “event not only for our army but for our country”.
Putin said, “Russia has developed a new kind of strategic missile.” He said the nuclear weapon missiles were already in process and production and would be given to the Russian army as early in next year.
On the eve of Putin’s March re-election, this “Avangard” nuclear weapon is one of the six weapons announced in his state of nation speech.
It was designed in order to sit at the top of an intercontinental ballistic missile with numbers of promises – weapon would boast its speed 20 times the sound of speed, it has capacity to manoeuver unexpectedly along its fight path and invincibility when it comes to missile defence shields.
Putin further suggested that no other country would be ever able to develop anything similar to Avangard missile, and that the news weapon would ensure the country’s security “for decades”.