Vladimir Putin unveiled that Russia had developed a new type of weapon that flies faster than the speed of sound and looks like a “fireball” in March 2018. Less than a week before the start of 2019, information about its successful test launch was released.
Dirk Zimper from the German Aerospace Centre told the country's public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (German Radio) that there are no effective defence systems against the hypersonic glide vehicle Avangard, which was successfully tested in December. According to the specialist, although the work on developing reliable countermeasures is underway, it is “really difficult” to intercept a hypersonic missile.
Zimper points to the acknowledgment of this fact in the US, referring to a statement by General John Hyten, the head of the Strategic Command of the United States. The general told the Senate Armed Forces Committee in March that the US had no defence that could prevent the use of such weapons against it.
Official Reveals Russia's Avangard Hypersonic Missile Speed
According to the German scholar, there are three countries researching this technology now: apart from Russia, these are China and the US. However, he expressed the opinion that the successful test launch of the Avangard had not shifted the international balance of power.
“It is clear that nations like the US, Russia, and China have been researching such systems for decades, and it is indeed a competition. It would be very…
