WASHINGTON, May 9. /TASS/. Russia expanded its inventory of intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with a hypersonic glide vehicle that is capable of evading radars over the past year, said General Gregory Guillot, commander of the US Northern Command.

"In the last year, Russia has expanded its force of ICBMs armed with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, designed to evade missile defense radars and interceptors," he said in a statement prepared for a hearing in US Senate Committee on Armed Services.

"It is also preparing to deploy the Sarmat heavy ICBM, which [Russian President] Vladimir Putin has claimed will feature a fractional orbital bombardment capability that could enable it to approach North America via a nonstandard trajectory over the South Pole," he went on to say.

"Russia also continues to develop and test novel experimental weapon systems, like the nuclear-armed Poseidon transoceanic weapon and the Burevestnik nuclear-propelled cruise missile. Russia intends for these systems to challenge US defenses and guarantee Russia’s ability to retaliate after a first strike," the general continued.