<span style="color: #222222;">Russia has operationalised a new intercontinental hypersonic weapon that can fly 27 times the speed of sound. <br />”<br />”Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu informed President Vladimir Putin that the first missile unit equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle entered combat duty. <br />”</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Later during a conference call with top military leaders, Shoigu congratulated the military and the entire nation.<br />” <br />” Strategic Missile Forces chief Gen Sergei Karakayev said during the call that the Avangard was put on duty in the southern Ural Mountains.<br />”</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">The Avangard is launched atop an intercontinental ballistic missile, which is capable of sharp manoeuvres in the atmosphere en route to target making it much harder to intercept. <br />”</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Avangard is designed using new composite materials to withstand temperatures up to 2,000 degree Celsius. It carries a nuclear weapon of up to 2 megatons.<br />” <br />” Putin has described the Avangard as a technological breakthrough comparable to the 1957 Soviet launch of the first satellite. <br />”</span><br />” <span style="color: #222222;">Putin has said Russia had to develop the Avangard and other prospective weapons systems because of US efforts to develop a missile defence system that he claimed could erode Russia's nuclear deterrent.&nbsp;</span>