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Zippyjuan
09-05-2019, 03:54 PM
https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-offered-trump-chance-to-buy-russian-hypersonic-missiles-2019-9

There is question as to whether or not Russia has any such weapons which work.


Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he recently offered US President Donald Trump the chance to purchase some of Russia's new weapons, including hypersonic missiles, purportedly to prevent an arms race.

The Russian president said that he told Trump in a recent phone call that the US could buy a hypersonic nuclear weapon Russia is working on, thus creating a kind of balance, but that Trump refused, telling him that the US was building its own weapons, Reuters reported.

"If you want we can sell you some, and this way we will balance everything out," the Russian president said he told Trump, according to Russia's state-run TASS news agency.

Putin delivered the comments — the truth of which is uncertain — at an economic forum where he again lamented the recent collapse of a Cold War-era arms-control agreement between Washington and Moscow, a pact that the US and NATO have accused Russia of violating.

A couple of weeks after formally pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty over the allegations of Russian violations, the US conducted its first post-treaty weapons test, firing off a conventional ground-launched cruise missile that exceeded the agreement's range limits.




Putin's story appears to be another effort by Russia to present itself as the reasonable party while arguing that the US is dragging the two countries into an arms race — one that Russia may have actually started years ago with its development of the Novator 9M729 missile, which NATO refers to as SSC-8.

Putin said on Thursday that while "Russia is ready for this dialogue," it had "not received a clear answer from the Americans," according to TASS.

It's highly unlikely that the US would ever accept Russian weapons, which also require launchers and integration into command-and-control networks and still have a risk that Russia could disrupt them.

While the Russian president's account of his offer to Trump may be untrue, Trump, in a peculiar tweet after Russia's recent deadly missile accident, said, "The United States is learning much from the failed missile explosion in Russia. We have similar, though more advanced, technology."

More at link.

Zippyjuan
09-05-2019, 03:57 PM
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/12/russia-having-trouble-building-hypersonic-weapon-putin-hyped.html


Russia hits a snag in developing a hypersonic weapon – after Putin said it was already in production

WASHINGTON — Russia is currently unable to find a source for the critical carbon fiber components needed to make one of its hypersonic weapons, despite President Vladimir Putin’s claims that the device has already entered serial production, according to people with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report.

A hypersonic weapon can travel at least five times the speed of sound, or about one mile per second. What’s more, the U.S. is currently unable to defend against this breed of threat.

The Kremlin considers their current carbon fiber material unreliable and is therefore looking for another source. Yet, the people added, Moscow has prioritized the program, and so the weapon is still on track to achieve initial operational capability by 2020.

The next flight test is slated for December, said one of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The body of the hypersonic glide vehicle cannot withstand the heat on re-entry, and therefore the internal systems fail,” this person explained to CNBC. “The Russians therefore need a better material because they have an upcoming test and they don’t think the material used to construct the body provides enough thermal protection.”

Russia expects the carbon fiber components to be produced within 12 months of selection and still expects to meet its 2020 deadline, according to the person.

“It’s intriguing that they continue to run into problems, because they’ve been flight-testing this system for a long time,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.

“They’re running into the same problems that anyone else would run into if they would do this, and it gets back to the issue, of course, how important is this for Russia?” he added, noting Moscow’s ambition to develop hypersonic weapons.

“Obviously, Russian attempts to develop high-tech weaponry is something we watch closely. To this point, however, we’ve seen more grandiose claims of success than actual proof,” said Defense Department spokesman Eric Pahon. “We are continuing to develop our own defensive capabilities and improve readiness for both ourselves and our allies to counter any threats the Russians may develop.”

The latest revelations come less than eight months after Putin touted his nation’s growing hypersonic arsenal as “invincible.”

The hypersonic glide vehicle, dubbed Avangard, was one of the six weapons Putin presented in March. Avangard is designed to sit atop an intercontinental ballistic missile and uses aerodynamic forces to sail on top of the atmosphere.

Putin claimed Avangard was capable of reaching targets at a speed of 20 times the speed of sound and strikes “like a fireball.” He also said that the hypersonic warhead had already entered serial production.

“Certainly, heat management is a huge challenge; you know, you have this thing that is going through the atmosphere at very high speeds and potentially for a long period of time,” said James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“The longer you are in the atmosphere, the more heat you have to manage, and that’s been a huge challenge for the U.S. in hypersonics, and, in part, it’s really a material science challenge,” Acton added, noting the significant costs associated with testing and producing hypersonic weapons.

More at link.

Stratovarious
09-05-2019, 04:23 PM
We should buy some of these, (love the gesture) and keep them within 100 miles of the Russian border,
I like Putin, but lets be practical, (Trojan Horse , ring a bell...)_ : )

Still, we do need to cozy up with Russia in today's world, China is rising.