The US magazine Newsweek reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Russia had introduced another deadly weapon system, the Avangard, into service.
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a report
, she added that the ministry published a video clip of the Avangard, which is a hypersonic glide vehicle capable of carrying nuclear weapons and is ready for combat. The vehicle was deployed in the Orenburg region of the Southern Urals.
The report stated that the system is equipped with intercontinental ballistic missiles, which took a few hours to install.
Impossible to intercept
Avangard was one of several advanced weapon systems announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018. Russian officials said the weapon is capable of flying at 27 times the speed of sound and is impossible to intercept.
In his 2018 speech introducing Avangard, Putin described the system as “invincible,” likening it to a “meteor” and “fireball,” and said it was capable of making sharp maneuvers on its way to the target, meaning it was “completely invulnerable to any threat.” Air defense and missile defense weapons.
At the time, former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said that Russia had 12 modern Avangard systems, which were developed at a relatively low cost.
The Avangard missile weighs about 2,000 kilograms, has a range of more than 6,000 kilometers, and is capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional payload, according to the Missile Defense Project of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The project paper states that: "As a glide booster weapon, the Avangard is transported to a maximum height (about 100 km) by means of a ballistic missile, after which the vehicle separates from its missile, and then launches towards its target through the atmosphere."
The Russian Defense Ministry said the first Avangard missile system entered service in late 2019.
The National Air and Space Intelligence Center said, in a report in 2020, that Avangard is one of two systems developed by Russia, and they are able to fly in trajectories over Antarctica to approach the mainland of the United States from the south.
Avangard missiles are designed to penetrate the US missile defense system and hit important targets with a nuclear warhead.
