Russia chooses Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle ballistic missile
The Soviet-era UR-100N ballistic missile will be the first to be equipped with Russia's powerful hypersonic vehicle.
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Simulation of the Avangard complex during a target attack. Photo: Tass |
The UR-100N UTTKN intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) has been chosen by the Russian military as the vehicle to launch the modern Avangard hypersonic vehicle,TassMarch 20, citing anonymous defense industry sources.
The UR-100N UTTKN missile was developed by the Soviet Union's OKB-52 design bureau in the 1960s and was officially put into service in 1980. Each UR-100N missile weighs about 100 tons and is capable of carrying a warhead weighing up to 4.5 tons. Russia currently operates about 30 UR-100N missiles, which were transferred by Ukraine in the early 2000s as a way to repay its gas debt to Moscow.
Avangard is a HGV research project launched by Moscow since 2004, aiming to develop a high-speed weapon capable of overcoming all missile shields of the US and its allies. However, it is often described as a "strategic weapon" rather than a "nuclear weapon".
Avangard can accurately attack targets at a distance of over 10,000 km. The strengths of this weapon are its speed of up to 25,000 km/h and low cruising altitude, which helps it avoid ground and space surveillance systems. In addition, Avangard is also capable of maneuvering while in flight, making it impossible for defense systems to accurately determine the trajectory to intercept.
According to many sources, Avangard will be equipped with a nuclear warhead with a yield of 2 megatons (equivalent to 2 million tons of explosives).
