Launch of the UR-100UTTKh ICBM, carrying the Avangard HGV, Dombarovsky Air Base, 26 December 2018
According to Russian president Vladimir Putin, the US withdrawal from the ABM Treaty in 2002 forced Russia to start developing hypersonic weapons: "We had to create these [hypersonic] weapons in response to the US deployment of a strategic missile defense system, which in the future would be capable of virtually neutralizing, zeroing out all our nuclear potential."[13] In 2007, when asked about U.S. plans to deploy ballistic missile defenses in Europe, Putin mentioned that Russia was developing "strategic weapons systems of a completely different type that will fly at hypersonic speed and will be able to change trajectory both in terms of altitude and direction".[14]
In October 2016, a flight test was carried out using a R-36M2 heavy ICBM launched from Dombarovsky Air Base, reportedly successfully hitting a target at the Kura Missile Test Range. This was reportedly the first fully successful test of the glide vehicle.[15]
HGVs differ from traditional ballistic missile warheads by virtue of their ability to maneuver and operate at lower altitudes.[18] The combination of maneuverability and high speed poses significant challenges for conventional missile defense.[according to whom?] With the advantage again swinging toward attack, R. Jeffrey Smith speculates that weapons of this type will reignite the kind of arms race that dominated the Cold War era.[19]
According to open-source analysis by Janes Information Services, Avangard is a pure glide vehicle without an independent propulsion system.[20] When approaching a target, the glider supposedly is capable of sharp high speed horizontal and vertical evasive maneuvers in flight.[according to whom?]
The Avangard weighs about 2,000kg (4,400lb) and travels at Mach 20–27, giving it the equivalent of 21 tons of TNT in kinetic energy alone, excluding any explosive warhead.[21]
