The Russian Defense Ministry has launched the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle at the instruction and in the presence of President Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reports.
Flying at hypersonic speed (about 25,000 km/h), the glide vehicle hit the hypothetical target on time. The ministry did not specify where the target was. The rocket was operated remotely, but not by the President himself.
“Vladimir Putin arrived at the National Center for State Defense Control and gave a command to start the tests. The launch was performed by an operational unit of the Strategic Missile Forces from Dombarovsky missile deployment area against a hypothetical target at the Kura range, Kamchatka Territory,” the agency reports.
Avangard is an innovative strategic missile complex carrying an intercontinental ballistic missile, which is designed to evade the most contemporary missile defense radars and hit targets located in other countries and on other continents. It can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads. Its range reaches 2,000-6,000 km and more. The range of the current intercontinental missiles UR-100N (launched from underground missile silos) is about 10,000 km.