Russia claims to be ahead of its competitors in the race to build hypersonic weapons. Such arms comprise missiles or boost-glide re-entry vehicles able to exceed Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). At least two Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) launched from UR-100N (SS-19) intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) have entered into combatduty; moreover, the Kremlin is pinning its hopes on the Zircon anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile, currently in testing. The USA, China, India, Japan and other countries are also developing such missiles.
