Russia is Developing a Hypersonic Missile

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Russia will build its first hypersonic missile by 2020. This, according to local state media.

“In my estimation, the first hypersonic products should appear … sometime in this decade – before 2020. We have approached this. We are talking about speeds of up to six to eight Mach. Achieving higher speeds is a long term perspective,” Sputnik news agency quoted Boris Obnosov, general director of the Tactical Missile Systems Corporation.

He made the remarks to journalists during a press conference at the Zhuhai’s Air Show in China recently.

Tactical Missile Systems is a state-owned defense company in Russia focusing on missiles that was established by a presidential decree in 2004. According to the Moscow Times, the company produces much of the guided missile systems for Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The target date of 2020 is significant because that is the year Russia intends to complete its military modernization program. In 2010 Russia announced it would spend around $600 billion over the next decade to modernize its armed forces with more high tech weaponry.

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Russia has implemented an ambitious defense industry and military modernization program aimed at ensuring that Russia’s military remains cutting edge as warfare gets ever more advanced. The government has pledged $600 billion for the program through 2020. Russian defense expenditures in the period from 2014 to 2016 have increased 60 percent.

Russia is also jointly developing the Brahmos-II hypersonic cruise missile with India. An official at Brahmos Aerospace – the joint venture between India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia – told The Hindu earlier this year that “a preliminary design [of Brahmos-II] is being done in the lab and the complete missile may take nearly five years to fructify.” However, in 2012, Indian officials also projected the hypersonic missile would be ready in five years’ time.

Though India had wanted the Brahmos to be based on a mid-range cruise missile like P-700 Granit, Russia opted for the shorter range sister of the missile, P-800 Oniks, in order to comply with Missile Technology Control Regime restrictions, to which Russia is a signatory. Its propulsion is based on the Russian missile, and guidance has been developed by Brahmos Aerospace. The missile is expected to reach a total order worth US$13 billion.