Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the successful Dombarovsky launch of a new boost-glide hypersonic long-range missile called Avangard, which successfully struck its target 6,000km away in the Kamchatka peninsula in a late December test. Putin went on to describe the missile as being “invincible” and able to penetrate anti-missile defences.
Derived from a concept originally put forward by Eugen Sänger in World War II, the core Avangard missile is designed to boost the hypersonic gliding warhead delivery vehicle to speeds of Mach 20 at the edge of the atmosphere. In doing so it flies lower than similarly ranged ballistic missile warhead delivery vehicles, whose high-arching flight paths make them easier for Western early warning radar systems to spot. These new boost-glide missiles, by flying closer to the Earth and its curvature, give Western defences less detection – and hence warning – time. Putin went on to declare that the nuclear warhead-armed Avangard missile will be deployed in 2019.
Western armed forces are looking at new systems to track these vehicles, including via satellite-based infrared sensors, which identify high body and wake temperatures, and laser systems to shoot them down.
Avangard missile in flight. Courtesy: Russian Ministry of Defence