Russia’s hypersonic nuclear capable missiles system

Russia’s hypersonic nuclear capable missiles system

News:

Russia to deploy Avangard, a new hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles system

Important Facts:

• The Avangard hypersonic system was tested from the Dombarovsky military airbase in southwest Russia
• Russia’s new hypersonic missile system, is invulnerable to the US defences, will enter service in 2019.
• Russia is the first in the world to receive a new type of strategic weapon and this will reliably ensure the security of our state and of our people for decades to come

Important Features

• The Avangard had intercontinental range and the ability to fly as fast as Mach 20, more than 15,000 miles per hour.
• The missile with a maneuverable gliding warhead can adjust both altitude and direction to avoid defenses and fly low enough to avoid most interceptors

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

• It is nuclear arms-control accord signed between United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 in which two nations agreed to eliminate their stocks of intermediate-range and shorter-range (or “medium-range”) land-based missiles (which could carry nuclear warheads).
• It was the first arms-control treaty to abolish an entire category of weapon systems
• The INF Treaty defined intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs) as those having ranges of 1,000 to 5,500 km (620 to 3,400 miles) and shorter-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) as those having ranges from 500 to 1,000 km