“Preserve the advantage,” were words used by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov when talking about his country’s position in the global hypersonic weapons arms race which continues to unfold at lightning speed.
Russian Hypersonic Weapons
Is Russia number one in hypersonic weapons? Borisov says “yes,” according to a report by Russia’s TASS news agency.
“We have been trying to remain on par or chase the leading weapon designs of Western states for years, and, for the first time in all this time, we dashed ahead in the development of hypersonic weapons and weapons on new physical principles, which use new types of engines — compact low-power nuclear power plants. Right now, we have a serious advantage in this regard over Western states, and we will try to preserve this advantage,” Borisov said.
Many of Russia’s hypersonic weapons have been extensively written about by the Russian media as well as international press, as they have been highlighted regularly by Russian leaders. For example, Russia is known to be testing a submarine-launched hypersonic cruise missile called 3M22 Zircon. Certainly hypersonic attack from the ocean introduces an entirely new sphere of attack positions. Something similar could be said of Russia’s bomber-launched Hypersonic weapon called the Kinzhal.
“[Russian weapons] comply with the main weapon and military vehicles development trends, as they move towards precision weapons, unmanned systems, and robotization,” Borisov added.
