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Vladimir Putin says Russia leads world in hypersonic missile tech
- Russia, United States and China in race to develop ultra-fast weapons that can evade defences
- Russia wants to deliver new Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles to its navy in 2022 after recent tests
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Russia is the global leader in hypersonic missiles and, by the time other countries catch up, is likely to have developed technology to counteract these new weapons, President Vladimir Putin said.
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Russia and the United States have an approximate parity when if comes to the number of warheads and their carriers, Putin said in comments aired on Sunday as part of a documentary film called Russia. New History.
“But in our advanced developments, we are definitely the leaders,” Putin said, adding that Russia is also No 1 in the world by the scale of upgrades of its traditional weapons.
The president said that in the future, other world powers would possess similar hypersonic weapon technology.
“When they get this weapon, it is highly likely will have means to fight this weapon.”
Putin said last month that tests of Russia’s Zircon hypersonic cruise missile are nearing completion and deliveries to the navy will begin in 2022.
Some Western experts have questioned how advanced Russia’s new generation of weapons is, while recognising that the combination of speed, manoeuvrability and altitude of hypersonic missiles makes them difficult to track and intercept.
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