Russia’s Avangard strategic systems enter series production

Russia’s Avangard strategic systems enter series production - source


The United States’ anti-missile defense systems have no combat value after Russia presented new weaponry, a military-diplomatic source added

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Russia has begun series production of strategic missile systems Avangard equipped with a glide vehicle, a military-diplomatic source said on Saturday.

"It is time for our Western counterparts to perceive new reality. Russian Kinzhals are on duty, while Avangard [systems] have entered series production," he said.

The missiles "which Americans are determined to roll out as a global anti-missile and air defense system, have no military value now after Russia’s presentations of new weapons," sourse added.

"There is no sense in shielding positioning areas and various military groups with them now," he noted. "There is neither protection nor antidotes against the Russian Kinzhal systems capable of flying at a speed of 10 Mach.".

Negotiations 

Western counterparts should sit at the negotiating table and hold talks about overwhelming security with regard to the most advanced weapons developed by Russia, a military-diplomatic source said.

Russia possesses the cutting-edge multi-tasking oceanic system with autonomous underwater vehicles, the brand-new Avangard hypersonic strategic system and other super contemporary systems mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his State of the Nation Address. "Moreover, the new generation precision weapons are on combat duty," the source specified.

"They need to realize it and sit at the negotiating table to talk about overwhelming security but not saber-rattling. The parity should not be breached as the United States and NATO have been attempting for many years," he said.

Russia has more than once called on Western counterparts to restart talks on global security and stability, the source said.

"We have been reiterating that Washington’s deployment of the global anti-missile defense system will end in nothing. Moreover, in 2007 we leaked classified information about the Sarmat strategic missile system, being under development then," he said. "No, we said nothing about the work on a nuclear-armed cruise missile and taken every measure possible to keep it secret. However, all required tests were performed on the weapon in full. Their results made it possible to assert with a 100% confidence that the project has been ‘polished’ and implemented."

It is time for the West to accept the new reality, rather than to keep "harping on" about the anti-missile defense system along with other bygone weapons.

"Nobody, but Russia, has a hypersonic weapon," he underlined.

Speaking about the West’s allegations that Russia had breached the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), the source pointed out that "There is no point for Russia in violating the INF Treaty as the new weapons are not subject to it."

The strategic missile system Avangard

In his address to the Federal Assembly, President Vladimir Putin told about the advanced Avangard strategic missile complexes with glide vehicles.

Later, Russia’s Strategic Missile Force Commander Sergei Karakayev said that the testing of advanced Avangard strategic missile complexes with glide vehicles had been completed.

"Creating the strategic missile system Avangard, equipped with a glide vehicle, has become a no less efficient response to the deployment of the American anti-missile defenses. Its testing has been successfully completed," he said.

New weapons systems

On Thursday, in his speech to the Federal Assembly Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the most advanced systems of strategic weapons, developed in response to Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) and practical deployment of the ABM shield both inside the US and outside its borders.

Among the new cutting-edge weapons are the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, the Kinzhal hypersonic weapons system, a nuclear-armed cruise missile, as well as a dual-capable unmanned underwater vehicle, which is meant for conventional and nuclear missions.

Original post: tass.com

Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle

The missile is believed to be able to travel at 20 times the speed of sound, or just over 15,000 mph. That's nearly as fast as the space shuttle's atmospheric reentry speed of Mach 25, or 17,000 mph.

According to Leonkov, the anti-ballistic missiles the US uses for defense can only travel at a speed of Mach 5, or just under 4,000 mph.

"I think that this is an answer to the Americans on the missile defense systems they deploy in Europe. American interceptors, including the Aegis, can only travel at Mach 5. In order to catch up with a missile traveling at Mach 10, one must have an interceptor running at Mach 15. Americans don't have such a missile; they are helpless here," Leonkov told Sputnik.

The expert explained that the Russian hypersonic missile has a speed comparable to the first cosmic speed, also called orbital velocity. The weapon is also extremely precise, he said.

"Mach 20 is roughly the first cosmic speed, or 6 km per second. That being said, the missile can maneuver with a high degree of precision, which is unrivaled anywhere in the world yet. No missile defense system can intercept it," Leonkov concluded. Source: sputniknews.com

Compared to traditional warheads of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which follow the ballistic trajectory towards their targets, the maneuvering glider warhead travels a part of its flight path at an altitude of several dozen kilometers in the dense layers of the atmosphere.

While maneuvering along its flight path and by its altitude, the glider warhead is capable of bypassing the area of the missile defense’s detection and destruction capabilities.

The warhead’s performance characteristics have not been officially disclosed. Presumably, the glider vehicle is about 5.4m long and develops a speed exceeding Mach 20. The warhead is either nuclear (from 150 kilotonnes to 1 megatonne) or conventional.

According to Strategic Missile Force Commander Sergei Karakayev, the vehicle’s body is made of composite materials, which makes it resistant to aerodynamic heating of several thousand degrees and protects it from laser irradiation. The vehicle is equipped with the thermoregulation system developed by the Nauka Research and Production Association. Source: tass.com

RT

Published on Mar 1, 2018

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