Russia has a strong edge in designing new weapons and has become the only country to deploy hypersonic weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
At a meeting with top military brass, Putin said that for the first time in history Russia is now leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons, unlike in the past when it was catching up with the US.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was behind the US in designing the atomic bomb, and building strategic bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, he said.
Photo: Reuters
“Now we have a situation that is unique in modern history when they are trying to catch up to us,” Putin said. “Not a single country has hypersonic weapons, let alone hypersonic weapons of intercontinental range.”
The US military has been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in the past several years, and US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in August said that he believes “it’s probably a matter of a couple of years” before the US has one.
Esper has called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range capabilities.
The Pentagon has also repeatedly warned the US Congress about hypersonic missiles being developed by Russia and China that would be harder to track and defeat.
US officials have talked about putting a layer of sensors in space to more quickly detect enemy missiles, particularly the more advanced hypersonic threats. The White House also plans to study the idea of basing interceptors in space, so the US can strike incoming enemy missiles during the first minutes of flight, when they are most vulnerable.
Asked to comment on Putin’s remarks, US Department of Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carver said in an e-mail: “We have seen the reporting, but have nothing to add concerning Russia’s claims.”
Putin said that the first unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is set to go on duty this month, while air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have already entered service.
He first mentioned the Avangard and the Kinzhal among other prospective weapons systems in his state-of-the-nation address in March last year.
Putin said at the time that the Avangard has an intercontinental range and can fly in the atmosphere at 20 times the speed of sound.
The weapon’s ability to change its course and altitude en route to a target makes it immune to interception by the enemy, he said.
“It’s a weapon of the future, capable of penetrating both existing and prospective missile defense systems,” Putin said on Tuesday.
The Kinzhal, which is carried by MiG-31 fighter jets, entered service with the Russian Air Force last year.
Putin has said that the missile flies 10 times faster than the speed of sound, has a range of more than 2,000km and can carry a nuclear or conventional warhead.
Russia must have the best weapons in the world, Putin said on Tuesday, citing a buildup of NATO forces near Russia’s western borders.
“It’s not a chess game where it’s OK to play to a draw,” Putin said. “Our technology must be better. We can achieve that in key areas and we will.”
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS