Russia has successfully tested a new hypersonic missile system according to media reports. „Avangard“ could carry nuclear and conventional warheads, the news agency RIA reported today, citing the Kremlin. President Vladimir Putin had followed the test, which took place in the far east of the country, from a Russian Ministry of Defense building in Moscow.
Russia is expanding its nuclear arsenal in response to recent tensions with the US and NATO. At the beginning of March, Putin had presented several new weapons systems in a speech to parliamentarians, some of whom were not supposed to allow any defenses – including „Avangard“.
Putin had announced that the new weapons could hit almost any point in the world and escape a missile shield built in the United States. His country was forced to act in the face of US armaments, he said. The strengthening of the Russian military should secure world peace.
