Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia has got a strong edge in designing new weapons and that it has become the only country in the world to deploy hypersonic weapons.
Speaking at a meeting with top military brass, Putin said that for the first time in history Russia is now leading the world in developing an entire new class of weapons unlike in the past when it was catching up with the United States.
The Pentagon and the U.S. military services have been working on the development of hypersonic weapons in recent years, and Defence Secretary Mark Esper said in August that he believes "it's probably a matter of a couple of years" before the U.S. has one. He has called it a priority as the military works to develop new long-range fire capabilities.
Putin said that the first unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle is set to go on duty this month, while the air-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles already have entered service. "It's a weapon of the future, capable of penetrating both existing and prospective missile defence systems," Putin said Tuesday.
The Kremlin has made military modernization its top priority amid tensions with the West that followed the 2014 Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea.
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