Russia's Hypersonic Missiles Getting Ready: To Induct In Air Fleet By 2020

By Kalyan Kumar | November 25, 2014 11:32 AM EST

Russia's hypersonic missiles, part of its target of modernising its armed forces, will be in place by 2020. But it seems like promoting an arms race.

(Photo: Reuters/Viktor Korotayev / )

File photo shows the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. Russia protested January 11 at Turkish threats of military action against Cyprus, which came after Moscow agreed to sell S-300 missiles to the Greek Cypriot government. Picture taken January 07, 1997.

Russia, the descendant of the erstwhile Soviet Union, seems to be toeing the Cold War tactics with high focus on advanced missiles. According to Russian state news agency, Sputnik News, the state-owned military company Tactical Missiles, will be making the much sought-after hypersonic missiles. To be delivered by 2020, these Hypersonic' missiles can travel five times faster than the speed of sound. Boris Obnosov, the director general of Tactical Missile Systems Corporation said, "In developing hypersonic missiles we are talking about speeds up to six to eight Mach. Achieving higher speeds is a long term perspective." Obnosov, himself in an interview to Sputnik in 2013, had said Russia's next generation long-range bomber will be outfitted with hypersonic missiles, and it will be inducted into the Russian air force fleets in 2023, reported Sputnik News.

United States and China

While Russia is focusing on super missiles, both the U.S. and China are already at work for producing their own super-fast missile, capable of striking anywhere in the world, in less than one hour. These smart bombs are ultra fast rockets tipped with a warhead and can strike time sensitive targets at unprecedented speeds. In a sense, the aggressive pursuit of Russia for super missiles negates the belief that end of Cold War has put an end to warhead politics. It also shows nuclear bomb still remains the biggest stick in diplomatic negotiations. For Russian officials, stationing ballistic missiles in strategic places is a key driver in foreign policy. On the one hand, Russia wants to keep pace with the international Joneses and also want to flaunt its hypersonic missiles, as a critical military capability, noted an analysis in Motherboard magazine.

Arctic Installations

Behind the urgency for military modernisation and new investments, Russia has put Arctic on a high priority. Here Russia wants to match nearby American Air Force bases in Alaska. It has earmarked a drone base in the far off Siberian city of Anadyr.

"The main objectives of this UAV deployment will be for safe maritime navigation in the Arctic zone," explained Alexander Gordeev, senior Russian official. The U.S. is also planning to deploy its own military drones in the northern state, according to a report in Alaska daily.

Russia also has a territorial dispute with Canada and wants to consolidate its northern borders for reaping the benefits of climate change, which may open up Arctic as a treasue of oil and gas. But aggression in Arctic by Russia has so far been limited to flying Tu-95 heavy bombers close to Canadian airspace, for testing the interception power of Canada's CF-18 fighters. A Canadian military official has already stated that North American Aerospace Defence Command aircraft last intercepted Russian planes in mid-September. 

State Firms

Along with the modernisation of the military, President Putin also wanted to groom the domestic Russian arms business, to make it less dependent on foreign arms. Meanwhile,Diplomat reported that the Tactical Missile Systems, focused on new generation missiles, was established by a presidential decree in 2004. The company is vested with the responsibility to produce much of the guided missile systems for Russia's Defence Ministry.

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