Russia hails ‘successful’ test of new hypersonic weapons system

Vladimir Putin has hailed the test of a new nuclear weapons delivery system he calls a guidable “fireball” that’s impossible to intercept.

Russia has said it has successfully tested a new hypersonic nuclear weapon delivery system that President Vladimir Putin has dubbed a guided “fireball” that is practically invisible.

The country’s defence ministry said the new Avangard weapon was tested on Wednesday.

It is one of an array of new nukes that Putin announced in March and that is at the centre of a potential new arms war bubbling up between Russia and the US.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (centre) and defence generals oversee the test launch of the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle from the Defence Ministry's control room in Moscow on Wednesday. Picture: Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced the US would terminate a treaty limiting short and intermediate range nuclear weapons after it accused Russia of violating the agreement.

Russia-US relations have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War due to the conflict in Ukraine, war in Syria and the allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

In Wednesday’s test, the weapon was launched from the Dombarovskiy missile base in the southern Ural Mountains. The Kremlin said it successfully hit a designated practice target on the Kura shooting range on Kamchatka, 6000 kilometres away.

Speaking to Russia’s top military brass after watching the live feed of the launch of the Avangard vehicle, Putin said it had been a “great success” and an “excellent New Year’s gift to the nation.”

“The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defence means of the potential adversary,” he said, adding that the weapon would see service next year with the military’s Strategic Missile Forces.

A computer simulation shows the Avangard hypersonic vehicle being released from booster rockets. Picture: RU-RTR Russian Television via AP.

Current nuclear missiles fly in a regular arc motion, providing some certainty of their trajectory and putting them at risk of being shot down by defence systems.

Russia claims its new weapons will be more nimble and can change direction making them far harder to track and intercept.

In March, Putin said the hypersonic intercontinental rocket was capable of travelling 20 times the speed of sound and could strike “like a meteorite”.

“It’s like a fireball guided to its target,” he did.

A graphic of the under development Avangard Russian weapons system which can duck and weave dodging radar and an enemy's defence systems. Picture: RU-RTR Russian Television via AP.

Footage shown during his March speech apparently showed the new “unstoppable” missile heading toward the US as he promised to “neutralise” America’s missile defence.

It has been claimed the Avangard system is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures of up to 2000 degrees Celsius that come from a flight through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds.

As well as the Avangard, Putin has also announced a new nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered underwater drone.