‘Today THEY are trying to catch up’: Putin says Russia surpasses all competitors in advanced weapons for the first time

Russia is spending far less on defense and more efficiently, developing a series of advanced weapons that its rivals are struggling to copy, President Vladimir Putin said, teasing a ground-launched hypersonic missile.

The Soviet Union was always trying to catch up to the US, whether it was the atomic bomb, strategic aviation, or the first intercontinental missiles, Putin said on Tuesday, during a meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry Board.

Today, we have a unique situation in our new and recent history – they are trying to catch up with us.

The president noted that “not a single country possesses hypersonic weapons, let alone continental-range hypersonic weapons,” but the Russian military is already equipped with Kinzhal air-launched missiles, while Avangard hypersonic gliders are currently being introduced in service.

Vladimir Putin addresses the meeting of the Defense Ministry Board in Moscow. © Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev

Kalibr cruise missiles and Peresvet combat lasers also recently boosted the capabilities of the military, while the development of other state-of-the-art weapon systems such as the Sarmat ICBM, Poseidon long-range underwater drone, and the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile is “going according to plan.”

Putin also slipped in a revelation that work is underway on the ground-launched version of the Zircon hypersonic missile, previously only intended to be placed on surface ships.

The Zircon is said to be virtually invisible to radar, due to the plasma cloud that appears around the projectile as it reaches the whopping speed of Mach 9, or around 10,000 kilometers per hour. The missile is capable of hitting targets at a range of over 1,000km.

Russia ranks sixth in the world in terms of gross military spending – behind the US, China, Saudi Arabia, UK, France, and Japan – but it “must and will remain ahead of the others” in terms of advanced technology, the president said. This will be achieved through “brains, intellect, better organization of work [and] minimization of theft and sloppiness.”

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