Russian ‘hypersonic missiles’ boss has been arrested for treason
MOSCOW, BM, ($1= 73.57 Russian Rubles) – Russia has detained the head of the hypersonic technology program on suspicion of treason, the Guardian reports, quoted by Sega.bg.
- The U.S. armed forces have introduced a long range hypersonic weapon model
- Elon Musk will make heat shields for US hypersonic missiles
- Russia is ready with a hypersonic missile reaching a speed of Mach 8
Alexander Kuranov, 73, director-general of the St. Petersburg-based Institute for the Study of Hypersonic Systems, was arrested in Moscow on Thursday. The court ordered his detention for two months in pre-trial detention.
Kuranov is an expert in hypersonic technology and is leading the work on the concept for a new hypersonic aircraft called Ajax, according to the institute’s website. Hypersonic technology allows objects to move much faster than the speed of sound. The Guardian recalls that Vladimir Putin announced a new set of hypersonic weapons during a speech to senior officials in 2018, suggesting that the weapons could hit targets in the United States and evade missile defense.
Russian state media reported the arrest, citing anonymous sources. “According to preliminary information, Kuranov, who has been working in the field of hypersonic technologies for years, has shared classified information for research with a foreign national,” Interfax reported, citing a source familiar with the investigation. It is known that the US and China have shown interest in the project, the agency said.
Russia: the US doesn’t have the technology to control a hypersonic missile
Russia has not seen much progress in developing the US LRHW hypersonic missile. Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov expressed a similar opinion in an interview with the Russian newspaper Vzglyad. According to Leonkov, titanium alloys are essential for protecting the electronics in the warhead and question the US capabilities for their production.
“But the question is, how will the electronics in the warhead behave when heated to certain temperatures?” Do they have the technology to produce titanium alloys that can withstand high temperatures and overloads? So far, nothing has been heard about it,” said the military expert.
However, Leonkov did not mention in his interview the participation of entrepreneur Ellen Musk. BulgarianMilitary.com wrote in March this year that Musk and his company were rewarded with an $ 8.5 million contract from the Pentagon. The company’s task is to find suitable alloys and materials or develop new technologies to deal with the high temperature during the launch and flight of the hypersonic rocket.
Leonkov also referred to a GAO report estimating the costs of the hypersonic missile program. He quoted a statement in which the GAO said that “the United States does not have breakthrough technology.” In this way, Washington cannot reach the level of controlled hypersonic, Leonkov added. “There is virtually no such technology,” he said.
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