Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov confirmed to TASS agency that the construction of the new Avangard hypersonic missile was on schedule, and that the first examples would join the Dombarovski missile division in the Orenburg region this year. This statement was made following a report broadcast by the American channel CBNC, according to which the sanctions imposed on Russia were preventing the smooth running of the program.
The Avangard intercontinental ballistic missile is one of the strategic programs announced by Vladimir Putin in March 2018 during the presidential campaign for his re-election. It features an atmospheric reentry glider that maintains hypersonic speed even when reaching the lower layers of the atmosphere, while maintaining maneuverability until impact or atmospheric detonation. In fact, unlike MIRVs, the Avangard is today impossible to intercept by existing anti-missile systems, such as the American THAAD.
If the information is proven, because we cannot exclude a purely political denial at this level, Russia will then have a major technological asset for the land component of its deterrent force, especially since, at the same time , series production of the S500 anti-missile and anti-aircraft system has also started, with the first units expected to be operational from 2020.
With the Kh57M airborne missile, the Avangard will then be the second hypersonic weapon system in service with the Russian forces, and in the world. The United States is jointly developing two hypersonic programs, but does not envisage entry into service before 2025. China also has a hypersonic missile program, notably with the WU-14 hypersonic glider, which however remains in the testing phase. . France launched the V-MAX program in 2019, led by the DGA, with the aim of having a prototype hypersonic glider in 2021, but does not plan to be able to integrate it into a weapons system. before 2030-2040.
In the field of hypersonic weapons, Russia actually has a comfortable technological lead.