Vladimir Putin has threatened the West with his deadliest hypersonic missile yet, amid claims it will be able to strike multiple global targets after flying into space at high speed.
The nuclear-capable Avangard missile, which can reportedly hit targets at 27 times the speed of sound, is seen in new footage installed in an underground launch silo in Russia’s Orenburg region.
According to Moscow, the rocket, traveling at 20,000 miles per hour and using a hypersonic glide vehicle, will be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere in less than 30 minutes before hitting any target in the world.
Video shows the missile being slowly loaded onto a tanker before a convoy of armed vehicles leads it to a launch site.
The Avangard is then placed upright before launching upwards.
The video then transitions into a rough animation designed to show off the rocket’s capabilities.
The video shows the Avangard rocket being fired upwards after being taken to a launch site
Video shows the rocket being slowly loaded onto a tanker en route to a launch site
A convoy of armed vehicles was seen leading the nuclear-capable missile to a launch site
The Avangard is then placed upright before launching upwards
Putin, who has just returned to Russia from a rare foreign trip to China, claims the West has no means to stop Avangard
It can be seen as it weaves around military ships in an ocean and quickly dodges defensive missiles fired at it.
Putin, who has just returned to Russia from a rare foreign trip to China, claims the West has no means to stop Avangard.
He has previously claimed that the Avangard will hit “like a meteorite” and will be unstoppable by any defense system.
Putin previously boasted: “The Avangard is invulnerable to interception by existing and future missile defenses of the potential adversary.”
A report from Pool Number 3 outlet said today that ‘the next Avangard hypersonic missile system has entered combat service’.
It stated: “In the Orenburg region, re-equipping of the Yasnensky missile formation with the silo-based Avangard missile system continues.
‘An intercontinental ballistic missile is loaded into a silo launcher using a special transport and loading unit.
“The infrastructure of the position area is prepared for the deployment of the next missile regiment to combat duty, including facilities for service preparation, combat duty and personnel rest.”
Vladimir Putin (photo) previously boasted: ‘The Avangard is invulnerable to interception by existing and future missile defenses of the potential adversary’
The video then transitions into a rough animation designed to show off the rocket’s capabilities
It can be seen as it weaves around military ships in an ocean and quickly dodges defensive missiles fired at it
It has been five years since Putin outlined the missile’s reported capabilities
Putin claimed in 2018: ‘When the gliding winged unit is moving towards a target… it performs extensive maneuvers, both laterally up to several thousand kilometers, and maneuvers at altitude’
It has been five years since Putin outlined the missile’s reported capabilities.
In a 2018 video, he stated: “When the gliding winged unit is moving toward a target… it performs extensive maneuvers, both laterally up to several thousand kilometers, and maneuvers at altitude.
‘This makes it absolutely impenetrable to any air and missile defense.
‘The use of new composite materials made it possible to solve the problem of long-term controlled flight of a gliding winged unit, practically under conditions of plasma formation.
“It goes towards a target like a meteorite, like a burning ball, like a fireball.”
The latest video of the Avangard missile comes just weeks after Ukrainian intelligence claimed that two major Russian nuclear missile tests went wrong.
On November 1, Vladimir Putin’s forces “conducted an unsuccessful test of the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, which is the main part of the ground component of the Russian strategic nuclear force.”
The missile “went off course, as during the previous command and control exercises” on October 25, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence directorate said.
“Similarly, the test launch of the RSM-56 Bulava ballistic missile from a… missile submarine on October 25, 2023 was unsuccessful, once again proving its insecurity,” it added.