Worried at Russia and China’s technological edge, the US aims to have a hypersonic weapon by 2025, the US Navy said in a report. A fortnight later, Vladimir Putin was watching the test launch of Russia’s newest hypersonic missile.
The state-of-the-art Avangard hypersonic glider was successfully tested December 26. It performed in-flight vertical and horizontal maneuvers and hit its intended target, according to the Defense Ministry. The actual speed of the missile, which will enter service in 2019, can reach a whopping 30,000km/h.
The test launch was observed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who labelled it “a big event for the armed forces, and probably for the entire country.
