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Prototype of Russia’s hypersonic weapon tested back in 2014 — general

The Avangard boost-glide vehicle is capable of flying at a hypersonic speed of up to Mach 28 in the dense layers of the atmosphere

MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Former Chief of Russia’s General Staff Army General Yuri Baluyevsky said that a prototype of a hypersonic weapon was tested in Russia back in 2004.

"I draw your attention to 2018, when [Russian President] Vladimir Putin said that Russia has a weapon that our adversaries don’t have at the moment and are unlikely to obtain in the near future," he said in an interview with RBC on Monday. "I can even disclose the date now. In February 2004, I was the one who oversaw trials of a prototype of the flying vehicle, which is now being referred to as a hypersonic weapon."

The Avangard boost-glide vehicle is capable of flying at a hypersonic speed of up to Mach 28 in the dense layers of the atmosphere, maneuvering by its flight path and its altitude and breaching any anti-missile defense. The Avangard hypersonic weapon was first mentioned by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018.

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