Russia has Declared its Hypersonic Avangard Nuclear Weapon Operational

Russian state news media and credible western news outlets such as the BBC World News are reporting that Russia has operationally deployed its new, “highly maneuverable”, ICBM-launched Avangard Hypersonic Glide Vehicle to an active military base somewhere in the Ural Mountains of western Russia.

The reports are significant since the Russian claims of maneuverability for the Avangard HGV may make interception of the missile system impossible with known anti-missile defense systems and countermeasures.

The Avangard is boosted into flight using an ICBM launch platform such as Russia’s SS-19 Stiletto (also known as the UR-100UTTkh). The Avangard HGV separates from its ICBM boost platform after reaching an apogee or maximum altitude of approximately 100 km. After separation from the launch ICBM platform the unpowered Avangard reenters the atmosphere at hypersonic speed. This flight profile is no different than existing ICBM deployed hypersonic weapons used by the U.S. and other nations. What is claimed to set the Avangard apart from existing reentry vehicles is its maneuverability. Russia claims the Avangard is as fast as an ICBM warhead on reentry but also as maneuverable as a low-speed cruise missile. It is this claim of maneuverability at hypersonic speeds that is alleged to make Avangard “impossible” to intercept by known anti-missile defense systems.

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Russian Avangard Hypersonic Weapon may Have Carbon Fiber Supply Problems

Russia's plans to build a hypersonic weapon system that can travel at more than 20 times the speed of sound, and also evade US missile defenses, has predictably rattled the world. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted that the Avangard weapons system would be ready by 2019. But some obstacles lie ahead that could impact production, CNBC reported. Specifically, the Kremlin needs to find another source of carbon fiber material to build the Avanguard hypersonic glide vehicles.

Russia's current supply of carbon fiber material is unable to withstand the extreme temperatures of hypersonic flight. According to a US intelligence report reviewed by CNBC, Russia is hunting for an alternative source of carbon fiber, but so far has had no luck. "It's expected that they will make no more than 60 of these hypersonic weapons because it's just proving to be too expensive to develop," an anonymous official told CNBC.

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Russians Claim to Have Successfully Tested the Avangard Boost Glide Weapon

The Russian Defence Ministry, on orders from President Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday conducted a successful test launch of an Avangard missile from the Orenburg region, hitting a target in Kamchatka, the Kremlin press service reports.

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Are the Japanese Starting to Work on a Boost Glide Weapon?

Japan's Defense Ministry is developing supersonic glide bombs to strengthen the defense of remote islands, including the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan.

A glide bomb, separated from a missile at a very high altitude, falls at supersonic speed toward the target on ground. It is part of the Ground Self-Defense Force's capability of recapturing invaded or occupied remote islands.

The ministry aims to put glide bombs into practical use in fiscal 2026 by moving up its initial development schedule by about seven years, officials said.

Glide bombs are believed to use mobile launchers. Due to its long range, glide bombs, along with the Air SDF's planned antisurface long-range cruise missiles, may be considered to have an ability to strike enemy bases and raise alarm in neighboring countries.

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Jane's is reporting the weapon is hypersonic rather than supersonic.

How Russia Will Deploy its Avangard Hypersonic Boost Glide Weapon

Russia will apparently use surplus UR-100UTTKh — NATO: SS-19 Stiletto — and the RS-28 Sarmat liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles as the launch vehicle for its Avangard hypersonic boost-glide weapon.

The new weapons will initially be deployed onboard UR-100UTTKn missiles that were returned from Ukraine after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Once the Sarmat is ready for operations, the Avangard will be deployed on that 200-ton missile also.

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Most of Putin's new weapons actually date back to at least the Soviet Union's response to Reagan's SDI.  The exception appears to be the Russian Project Pluto.

Russia Conducted a Hypersonic Weapons Test

On October 25 2016 the Strategic Rocket Forces carried out a successful test launch of an UR-100NUTTH/SS-19 missile from the Dombarovskiy basing area. The missile was launched at 11:58 MSK (08:58 UTC). According to a ministry of defense representative, the payload was "successfully delivered" to the Kura test site in Kamchatka.

This is probably another test of the Project 4202 hypersonic vehicle, similar to that conducted in April 2016.

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Russia Claims Nuclear Armed Hypersonic Boost Glide Weapon Almost Ready

The lethal hypersonic nuclear glider that looks to revolutionize defense aviation could travel the distance from Moscow to London within 13 minutes and could penetrate NATOs missile defense system.

After launching initial tests on Russia’s first futuristic glider last year as part of Russia’s Project 4202, the aircraft believed to be the Yu-74 is “ready for action” reports Britain’s Daily Star.

The glider can travel at a speed of Mach 10 (7,680MPH or 12,3560kmh) and will reportedly be fit with RS-28 Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles although details about the glider’s specifications remain top secret. In April, US military officials confirmed the existence of Russia’s deadly hypersonic glider.

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Significant (extraordinary) Advancement Claims for Russian Hypersonic Boost Glide Project 4202 Weapon

Russia’s new Yu-74 ultra-maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicles may become yet another response to the deployment of NATO’s missile installations in Eastern Europe, according to military analysts. Going head to head with the United States and China, Russia has been developing its own hypersonic weapons during the past few years.

A hypersonic weapon usually has a speed between 3,840 miles per hour (Mach 5) and 7,680 miles per hour (Mach 10). Furthermore, these systems use sophisticated technologies for maneuvering and boast allow the rapid delivery of warheads, precise targeting and survivability against wide range of missile defense systems.

Last year Russia conducted a series of tests of the Yu-71 hypersonic attack aircraft. The Yu-71 is part of secret missile program codenamed “Project 4202.” The glider was said to reach speeds of up to 7,000 miles per hour. Due to its outstanding maneuverability and high speed the system can overcome any defense shield, military experts noted.

But that is half the story. According to analytical website Ostkraft.ru, this year Russia successfully tested its experimental Yu-74 hypersonic glide vehicle. The Yu-74 was carried by the intercontinental-range RS-18A (NATO codename: SS-19 Stiletto) ballistic missile system. The glider was launched from the Dombarovsky missile base in the Orenburg region and hit a target located at Kura Missile Test Range in northern Kamchatka region, the Russian Far East.

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The Race to Hypersonic Missiles Around the World

As the USA, Russia and China pursue long-range, high-speed boost-glide and scramjet/ramjet-powered strike weapons, the deputy commander of US Strategic Command Lt Gen Stephen Wilson says arming those hypersonic vehicles with nuclear warheads is not currently part of the conversation, at least not for America.

The velocity of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic cruise missile (ICBM) can be as high as Mach 20, or 20 times the speed of sound, during powered flight, but today’s nuclear-armed cruise missiles are much slower and therefore more easily intercepted.

The US Air Force's turbofan-powered Boeing AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile (ALCM), for instance, has an advertised speed of Mach 0.65, or 500mph (800km/h). Boeing’s experimental hypersonic vehicle, the X-51 WaveRider, achieved a top speed of Mach 5, or 3,300mph, during a powered flight in 2013.

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China's 7th Hypersonic Boost Glide Weapon Test was a Success

China has successfully completed a seventh flight test of its new hypersonic glide vehicle last week in its northern central Shanxi province, according to an article on People’s Daily Online.

The “DF-ZF” glider can travel at speeds between Mach 5 and Mach 10, which is 5 to 10 times the speed of sound.

The Chinese news site reported that U.S. intelligence fears that Beijing may use DF-ZF to “deliver nuclear weapons bypassing even the most complex of missile defense systems,” citing an article in the Washington Free Beacon.

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman first confirmed China’s hypersonic missile test in March 2015, saying that the missile test was not aimed at any country and was done for scientific research, according to the People’s Daily online.

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America's Hypersonic Missile Revolution is Nigh

Long before hitching a ride to the moon aboard Apollo 11, then US Air Force test pilot Neil Armstrong was zipping around in a rocket-powered North American X-15, which to this day remains the fastest manned, winged aircraft ever built. That flight record of Mach 6.72 or 7,274km/h was set by pilot William “Pete” Knight in 1967.

Now, some 59 years later, America still hasn’t fully realised the promise that experimental flight vehicle held for military operations.

Despite many breakthroughs in fields of hypersonic propulsion and high-temperature materials, the air force doesn’t imagine an affordable and operationally relevant surveillance and strike aircraft coming online until the late 2030s.

The storied Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird flew at Mach 3.2, or three times the speed of sound, which is now short of what the air force says it needs to outpace modern interceptors.

Instead, the air branch is pushing hypersonic missiles, powered by the type of air-breathing scramjet engine that propelled the and rocket-boosted Boeing X-51 WaveRider in 2013. Engineless boost-glide hypersonic weapon concepts are also being considered.

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China Working to Deploy Hypersonic Boost Glide Weapon by 2020

China conducted six successful tests of a new high-speed hypersonic glide vehicle, the most recent in November, and also recently tested an anti-satellite missile, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command said Friday.

Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the commander in charge of nuclear forces, said the tests are part of a worrying military buildup by China, which also includes China’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea.

“China continues to make significant military investments in their nuclear and conventional capabilities, with their stated goal being that of defending Chinese sovereignty,” Haney said during a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“It recently conducted its sixth successful test of a hypersonic glide vehicle, and as we saw in September last year, is parading missiles clearly displaying their modernization and capability advancements,” he added.

The six tests of the hypersonic glide vehicle, regarded by U.S. intelligence agencies as a nuclear delivery system designed to defeat missile defenses, were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

Defense officials said the hypersonic glide vehicle tested on Nov. 23, known as DF-ZF, was launched atop a ballistic missile fired from China’s Wuzhai missile test center in central China.

The glider separated from the booster and flew at extremely high speed—between Mach 5 and Mach 10—along the edge of space.

Haney confirmed all six tests were successful, indicating the weapon program is proceeding.

Prior to the November test, the DF-ZF was flight tested Aug. 19.

The earlier tests were carried out on June 7, and on Jan. 9, 2014; Aug. 7, 2014; and Dec. 2, 2014.

Haney described the hypersonic threat as a challenge to U.S. strategic deterrence.

The congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission stated in its latest annual report that the hypersonic glide vehicle program is “progressing rapidly” and the weapon could be deployed by 2020.

China also is building a powered version of the high-speed vehicle that could be fielded by 2025.

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China Conducted Hypersonic Boost Glide Weapon Test on November 23, 2015

A sixth test of China's hypersonic manoeuvring strike vehicle, the DF-ZF (previously designated the WU-14), took place on 23 November, according to US officials.

China had signalled that this test was imminent on 18 November when it issued a notice to airmen (NOTAM) covering the same areas as its fifth test on 19 August 2015.

US officials said the latest test achieved a speed of "beyond Mach 5" and was called a "success", according to a 25 November 2015 report in the Washington Free Beacon .

Previous tests occurred on 7 June 2015, 2 December 2014, 7 August 2014, and 9 January 2014. Only the 7 August 2014 test was called a "failure" by US officials.

As with previous tests, this one was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi Province, where China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) tests most of its long-range missiles.

The key advantages of a boosted hypersonic manoeuvring vehicle are that it can radically change its trajectory to avoid missile defences and has 'gliding' capabilities that give an extended range over that of a conventional ballistic missile warhead.

While a hypersonic manoeuvring strike vehicle could be nuclear armed, it is also likely that China plans such warheads to perform non-nuclear precision strike missions, such as arming a next-generation anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM).

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China's 4th Successful Test of Wu-14 Mach 10 Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Conducted on June 14

Chinese defence ministry has confirmed the test of a supersonic nuclear delivery vehicle, a move described by the US as an "extreme manoeuvre" amid tension in the South China Sea.

The fourth successful test of hypersonic glide vehicle - which the US has dubbed the "Wu-14" - was carried out on Sunday. It was the People Liberation Army's fourth test of the weapon in 18 months.

"The scheduled scientific research and experiments in our territory is normal, and those tests are not targeted at any country and specific goals," Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted the defence ministry as saying.

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DARPA Gives Raytheon $20 Million Contract to Continue Boost Glide Hypersonic Weapon Development

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) a $20,489,714 million contract modification for the Tactical Boost Glide program. Under the TBG program, Raytheon intends to develop and demonstrate the technology to enable air-launched hypersonic boost glide systems. A majority of the work will be performed in Tucson.

"Hypersonics is the new frontier of missile design and development," said Tom Bussing, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missile Systems. "The extreme environments where these advanced missiles must operate present significant engineering challenges. Our extensive experience and expertise in developing advanced guided weapon systems uniquely position Raytheon to help solve these problems and deliver these solutions."

Once fielded, TBG could fly at speeds faster than Mach 5 and at altitudes of nearly 200,000 feet. To achieve the required speeds, the re-entry vehicles would be designed to skip across the inside of Earth's upper atmosphere before descending on their targets. The new missiles would have to withstand intense heat while remaining highly maneuverable, and would require sensor packages to engage moving or re-locatable targets.

Hypersonic weapons would be difficult to intercept, and would enable warfighters to strike targets at long range much more quickly than current missile technology allows.

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