Posted on 12/27/2019 9:12:27 AM PST by Red Badger
A new intercontinental weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound became operational Friday, Russia’s defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin, bolstering the country’s nuclear strike capability.
Putin has described the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. The new Russian weapon and a similar system being developed by China have troubled the United States, which has pondered defense strategies.
The Avangard is launched atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, but unlike a regular missile warhead that follows a predictable path after separation it can make sharp maneuvers in the atmosphere en route to target, making it much harder to intercept.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty.
“I congratulate you on this landmark event for the military and the entire nation,” Shoigu said later during a conference call with top military leaders.
The Strategic Missile Forces chief, Gen. Sergei Karakayev, said during the call that the Avangard was put on duty with a unit in the Orenburg region in the southern Ural Mountains.
Putin unveiled the Avangard among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March 2018, noting that its ability to make sharp maneuvers on its way to a target will render missile defense useless.
“It heads to target like a meteorite, like a fireball,” he said at the time.
The Russian leader noted that Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2,000 Celsius (3,632 Fahrenheit) resulting from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.
The military said the Avangard is capable of flying 27 times faster than the speed of sound. It carries a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avangard_(hypersonic_glide_vehicle)
On 27 December 2019, the first missile regiment armed with the Avangard HGV officially entered combat duty.[1]
Heh. That’s well over 9000 meters per second ...
Roughly 6 miles a second in round numbers.
Hope ya got it pointed where ya want it to hit.
First strike weapon.
Can our carriers defend against it?
[[New Russian weapon can travel 27 times the speed of sound]]
Yeah but they keep losing it because noone saw where it went
https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/avangard/
Russia had initially planned to mount the Avangard on the road-mobile RS-26 “Rubezh” (SS-X-31) but chose to use the silo-based R-28 “Sarmat” after the Rubezh was delayed due to financial constraints.10
claimed the HGV can maintain atmospheric speeds of up to Mach 20 (6.28 km/s) and can maneuver.12 T
At that speed?.................no...............
Yet somehow, it can turn on a dime!
Flaps....................
Ruble................
In a way it’s an ‘easy’ target for an anti missile defense because its trajectory is quite fixed at 27X the speed of sound, and its thermal signature makes it easy to find/ hard to mask. While the math of an intercept is extraordinary, it ain’t impossible.
Nope. Read up on the turn radius of even the SR-71/ YF12A interceptor variant.
Sharp turn at that speed induces HUGE G forces.
Its hype.
Still vulnerable in the launch phase.
Oh yeah?
Well just what is Russia’s policy on transgender soldiers?
No, these idiots insist that it will make sharp manoeuvres in the atmosphere.
Ha. Ha.
Nobody on board, so it’s just mechanical stress................
20,000 miles per hour? Peak speed or cruising speed?
“In a way it’s an ‘easy’ target for an anti missile defense because its trajectory is quite fixed at 27X the speed of sound,”
No, it specifically says that the trajectory is NOT fixed. It can maneuver during flight.
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