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WORLD NEWS Friday 28 december 2018

Official: Russian weapon 27 times faster than speed of sound

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV A smiling Ivanov likened the
Associated Press weapon’s flight through
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s the atmosphere to a peb-
new strategic weapon has ble skipping off the surface
rendered any missile de- of water. Ivanov, who now
fenses useless at a small serves as Putin’s adviser,
fraction of their cost, offi- said the Avangard could
cials said Thursday. be fitted to the Soviet-
The Avangard hypersonic made UR-100UTTKh inter-
glide vehicle flies 27 times continental ballistic missile,
faster than the speed of which is code-named SS-19
sound, making it impossible Stiletto by NATO.
to intercept, Deputy Prime He noted that Russia has a
Minister Yuri Borisov told stockpile of several dozen
Russian state television. such missiles, which are in
The new weapon “essen- a factory-mint condition
tially makes missile defens- and not filled with fuel, al-
es useless,” he said. lowing them to serve for a
Borisov spoke a day after long time to come. Ivanov
Russian President Vladimir added that they could be
Putin oversaw what he de- Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chief of General Staff of Russia Valery Gerasimov oversee put in existing silos, sharply
scribed as the conclusive the test launch of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle from the Defense Ministry’s control room reducing the costs of Avan-
successful test of the Avan- in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. gard’s deployment.
gard and hailed it as a reli- Associated Press He noted that Russia began
able guarantee of Russia’s The Defense Ministry re- Russia-U.S. relations, which atmosphere. He empha- to develop the Avangard
security for decades to leased footage from the have been strained over sized that unlike previous after the 2002 U.S. withdrew
come. test launch, in which a the Ukrainian crisis, the war nuclear warheads fitted from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic
In Wednesday’s test, the ballistic missile could be in Syria and the allegations to intercontinental bal- Missile Treaty and started to
weapon was launched seen blasting from a silo of Moscow’s meddling in listic missiles that follow a develop defenses against
from the Dombarovskiy mis- in a cloud of smoke, but it the 2016 U.S. presidential predictable trajectory al- ballistic missiles.
sile base in the southern hasn’t released any images election. lowing it to calculate the Moscow feared that the
Ural Mountains. The Krem- of the vehicle itself. Sergei Ivanov, a former Rus- spot where they can be U.S. missile shield could
lin said it successfully hit a Putin said the Avangard will sian defense minister, said intercepted, the Avangard erode its nuclear deterrent,
practice target on the Kura enter service with the Rus- in televised comments that chaotically zigzags on its and Putin announced in
shooting range on Kam- sian Strategic Missile Forces the Avangard constantly path to its target, making 2004 that Russia was work-
chatka, 6,000 kilometers next year. The test comes changes its course and al- it impossible to predict the ing on a new hypersonic
(3,700 miles) away. amid bitter tensions in titude as it flies through the weapon’s location. weapon.q