Among the six new weapons that Russian President Putin boasts is the Avangard, a hypersonic gliding weapon that turns into a meteorite-like fireball and flies at target. However, it is said that such avant-garde is having difficulty in procuring carbon fiber materials necessary for production.
The avant-garde is one of the phenomenal new armaments President Putin mentioned in his post-secondary textbook last March. It reached a whopping 20 times the speed of sound, advocated attacking like a fireball, and claimed that it had already entered mass production. At the end of last year, it was also announced that it would be deployed within 2019.
According to public information, after being launched from an avant-garde rocket and accelerated, it glides with a glider at an altitude with a thin atmosphere and low air resistance. It is believed that it has a breakthrough ability to break through the US missile shield by securing a range more than a ballistic missile and a mobility closer to a cruise missile.
However, since it is hypersonic, that is, Mach 5 or higher, procurement of carbon fiber materials that can withstand the surface temperature of the gas rising to 1,600 to 2,000 degrees is the key. Since the current supply is difficult, there were reports last year that the Russian government was looking for another supplier. According to a report by a US intelligence agency, the Russian government had not been able to procure textile materials before a month. An anonymous source said he expects to have fewer than 60 hypersonic weapons. However, as the Russian government is prioritizing the avant-garde plan, it is expected to achieve initial operational capabilities by 2020.
According to reports, Russia had two successful avant-garde tests in 2016, and in October 2017, the crash test failed a few seconds before reaching the target. Nuclear weapons experts say that the avant-garde has a niche performance that has no clear purpose, but it is an analysis that Russia’s haste for production can give a glimpse of political intentions such as US checks. Related information can be found here .