Avangard hypersonic weapon system. IMAGE: Russian Defense Ministry
A first batch of Avangard hypersonic weapon systems will be put on a combat duty in Russia’s Orenburg Region in 2019, Commander of the Strategic Missile Troops Sergei Karakaev told the Defense Ministry’s newspaper Red Star.
Avangard gliding vehicle can reach the top speed of Mach 20 and is one of the possible payload options for Sarmat ICBM. The warhead can fly in dense layers of the atmosphere over intercontinental distances, while performing evasive dog-legs both horizontally (up to several thousand kilometers) and vertically. Specialists assess that the Avangard has not only an aerodynamic control system but also a propulsion system to be able to perform such maneuvers.
By mid-March it was announced that the first Avangard carriers would become the UR-100N UTTKh (SS-19 Stiletto) ICBMs that will most likely become part of the RS-24 Yars strategic missile system. About 30 of these missiles were delivered from Ukraine in the early ‘00s to cover natural gas debts. After the Soviet break-up, they were stored un-fueled. Once Sarmat is adopted, it too will carry Avangard warheads. The Russian MOD already signed a contract for serial delivery of Avangards, and they will enter line service in the near future. MORE HERE
December 17 is the day of the Strategic Missile Troops in Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry released a video on the topic:
Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov said in an interview published in the business daily Kommersant that the infrastructure for deploying Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) had been fully prepared.
“Over the past few years, we have created modern infrastructure for deploying Yars complexes and the infrastructure for the Sarmat missile system has already been prepared. The most complex facilities have been put into operation and radar stations are already on combat duty in their high operational readiness,” the deputy defense minister said.
He added that Russia had reconstructed 19 airfields for the Aerospace Force and built 11 hydro-technical structures and 23 coastal facilities for the Navy.
