Russia deploys Avangard missile into combat duty, what's this 'invincible' weapon by Putin

Russia has deployed a regiment armed with the dangerous Avangard missiles into service. The Russian Defence Ministry said that the regiment had entered combat duty at the Yasnenskoye missile formation in the Orenburg Region in southern Urals, reported TASS news agency.

"Today, yet another regiment armed with the Avangard missile system was put on combat duty at the Yasnenskoye missile formation, becoming a true present for the Day of the Strategic Missile Force," the ministry said. The Russian Defense Ministry said the missile system with the hypersonic glide vehicle will increase combat capabilities of the Russian Strategic Missile Force.

The complex process of installing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) took a few hours and was carried out with the help of a special transporter-loader. The Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is capable of flying through the dense layers of the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds of up to Mach 27 (about 32,000 kilometres per hour), performing direction and altitude manoeuvres and overcoming any missile defences. Russian President Vladimir Putin first mentioned the Avangard system in March 2018.

What is Russia’s Avangard missile system?

In his 2018 speech presenting the Avangard, Putin described the system as "invincible" and likened it to a "meteorite" and "fireball." He said it was capable of making sharp manoeuvres on its way to a target, meaning it is "absolutely invulnerable to any air defence and missile defence weapons."

"The Avangard is invulnerable to intercept by any existing and prospective missile defence means of the potential adversary," the Russian leader said, adding that it would guarantee Russia's security for the foreseeable future.

Avangard is a boost-glide vehicle that is attached to a ballistic missile, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The boost-glide vehicle separates from the missile at an altitude of approximately 100 km and then manoeuvres towards its target at speeds reaching Mach 20. This speed is not different from existing capabilities, as Avangard, and hypersonic glide vehicles in general, are slower than intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

What is new is Avangard’s ability to manoeuvre, which makes its trajectory unpredictable. Furthermore, Avangard’s altitude of its trajectory also makes it more difficult for ground-based radar to detect and more difficult for missile defence systems to counter. Currently, Avangard is boosted by the SS-19 Stiletto ICBM and will be deployed on the SS-28 Sarmat as it enters service to replace the Stiletto.

On December 27, 2019, the Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu announced that the Russian military had successfully deployed the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). The Avangard is one of two systems Russia has developed that are "capable of flying trajectories over the south pole to approach the continental US from the south," the National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in a 2020 report. The Avangard "is designed to penetrate the US missile defence system and strike at critical targets with a nuclear warhead."