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Russian Army to get Hypersonic Strategic Missiles
Russia plans to develop hypersonic strategic missile systems, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2004). “We are developing and will provide the army with new, high-precision strategic complexes that are unique and unlikely to appear earlier in any other country,” Putin said. The missiles would use hypersonic sound to change course and altitude and “will be virtually invulnerable, even to the missile defense systems being developed in some of our partner countries,” Putin said (Associated Press, Sept. 27). Meanwhile, the Russian navy said it successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile yesterday, the Associated Press reported. The Bulava solid-fuel missile was fired from a nuclear submarine in the White Sea and struck a target on the Kamchatka Peninsula, navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo said in a statement. Yesterday’s test was the first live fire of the missile, which has a range of 5,000 miles, according to AP. “The successful test launch demonstrated the high level of readiness of the naval strategic nuclear forces and effectiveness of the navy’s military command,” Dygalo said. The Russian navy expects to get two newly equipped nuclear submarines in 2006 armed with the missiles, Dygalo said. Interfax reported that each of the submarines would carry 12 missiles (Associated Press, Sept. 27).
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