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developed by the Research and the Sarmat boosted Joining Hands
Production Association of Machine- intercontinental ballis-
Building (the town of Reutov, the In April 2022, the then-prime min-
Moscow Region) and was tested tic missile; the Tsirkon isters of Australia and Britain,
from 2004. The glide vehicle is ground- and sea-based Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson,
capable of flying at hypersonic hypersonic rockets; the joined Joe Biden in issuing a joint
speed in the dense layers of the statement saying their countries
atmosphere, maneuvering by its Poseidon unmanned would commence new trilateral
flight path and its altitude and underwater vehicle; and cooperation on hypersonics and
breaching any anti-missile defence. the Burevestnik nucle- counter-hypersonics, and electronic
warfare capabilities, as well as to
ar-armed cruise missile.” expand information sharing and to
The new weapon was unveiled by he added. deepen co-operation on defence
Russian President Vladimir Putin innovation.
in his State of the Nation address The second design, Kinzhal
to the Federal Assembly on March (dagger) classified as AS-24 Killjoys
2018. It has been reported that the United
by Nato, is claimed can immedi- Kingdom intends to design and
ately destroy US nuclear bases in deploy its own hypersonic cruise
Officials said the ICBM flies 27 Europe. The stationary weapon is missile by the year 2030.The
times faster than the speed of ideal for a prompt strike. It can be country has laid out a road map
sound. During the last known tests delivered by a high-speed carrier that could lead to the development
that took place in December 2018, such as a fifth-generation fighter. of a hypersonic strike capability.
the Avangard hit a practice target The UK defense ministry last July
6,000 kilometers away across revealed plans to expand the coun-
Siberia at speeds up to Mach 27. The missile has a long-range try’s understanding of hypersonic
and hit precision comparable to weapon technologies.
Iskander missiles. It has a claimed
“Not a single country range of more than 2,000 kilome-
possesses hypersonic tres, a speed of more than Mach “As part of the Team
weapons, let alone 10, and an ability to perform eva- Hypersonics (UK)
sive manoeuvres at every stage of
inter-continental hyper- flight carrying both conventional and delivery strategy,
sonic weapons. We nuclear warheads. the UK Ministry of
already have the Kinzhal Defence (MoD) Defence
hypersonic missile sys- The third and newest hypersonic Equipment & Support
tems in the field, and the weapons the Russians have (DE&S) intends to
Peresvet laser combat claimed is 3M-22 Tsirkon or Zircon establish a multi-sup-
anti-ship missile (ASM). The
systems have already Zircon’s estimated range is 500 kilo- plier Hypersonic
been deployed,” metres at a low level and up to 750 Technologies &
Putin said. kilometres at a semi-ballistic trajec- Capability Development
tory, but the state-owned media in Framework Agreement
Russia reports the range as 1,000
The latest ballistic missiles with the kilometres. It’s a two-stage missile (the Framework). The
Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle that uses solid fuel in the first stage aim of the Framework
(HGV) are being delivered to the and a scramjet motor in the second is to accelerate devel-
Strategic Missile Forces. “This is a stage.
weapon of the future that can pen- opment of the United
etrate both existing and any future Kingdom Hypersonic
missile defense systems,” Putin Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., Strike Capability and
said. together known as the Aukus
nations, previously announced a to provide a route to
plan to expand their military pact to market for future oper-
“Work on other systems collaborate on the development of ational elements of
is underway, including hypersonic missiles and anti-hyper-
sonic weapons. hypersonic and adjacent
ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY MARCH - APRIL 2024 | 19
