MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The second regiment of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) outfitted with Avangard hypersonic boost glide vehicles is set to assume combat posture in Russia, Strategic Missile Force Commander Colonel-General Sergey Karakayev said in a live broadcast of the Military Output Acceptance program on the Zvezda TV Channel on Sunday.
"Today one full-complement regiment is on duty and the second regiment is preparing to go on combat alert. This is present-day reality. Incidentally, from the standpoint of the impact of the anti-ballistic missile defense on this weapon, there is no capability to counter it. They cannot even imagine how they can counter this weapon today," the commander said.
The Russian Strategic Missile Force commander said in late December last year that four missile regiments were set to assume combat posture in 2022, including the missile regiment in the Uzhur missile formation armed with Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, a new regiment in the Yasny missile unit with Avangard hypersonic missiles and also missile regiments in the Tver and Kirov Regions with Yars road-mobile ICBMs.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on the single military output acceptance day in January this year that the first regiment had been fully rearmed with Avangard intercontinental ballistic missiles with boost glide vehicles.
The Avangard boost-glide vehicle is capable of flying at a hypersonic speed of up to Mach 27 (about 32,000 km/h) 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.