When Vladimir Putin came to power in Russia, he inherited the remains of the Red Army that left Afghanistan a decade earlier. The army was broken. The fall of the Soviet Union left scars on the society, but the army hit rock bottom.
That is how rebels in Chechnya managed to resist Russia for many years. In 2000, Putin witnessed the Kursk submarine disaster and tragedy. 118 sailors lost their lives. Vladimir Putin personally promised to change and modernize the army.
Nowadays, Russia can say they have some unique weapons that nobody else in the world has. At least not as modern, efficient, and effective as the Russian weapons. Here are five weapons that Russia can say are among the best.
Avangard – The hypersonic glide vehicle
Vladimir Putin personally observed the first flight of the hypersonic glide vehicle. The HGB can be carried as a MIRV payload and it can deliver both nuclear and conventional payloads.
Avangard was just one of the six new strategic weapons unveiled by Putin in March 2018. According to Putin, it was US’s withdrawal from the ABM treaty in 2002 that forced Russia to start developing hypersonic weapons.
There is no other rocket like this in the world. It can travel at amazing 24.000kmph and it is 130 times more powerful than the nuke that destroyed Hiroshima.
Su-57 PAK Fa
The single-seat, twin-engine stealth multirole fighter is the product of the PAK FA program. It is a multirole fighter capable of aerial combat and ground and marine strike. The design incorporates stealth, supercruise, super manoeuvrability, integrated avionics, and substantial internal payload capacity.
The fighter forms the basis of a family of stealth combat aircraft replacing older generations. The Su-57 had its first flight in August 2019.
The biggest advantage is that the aircraft possess artificial intelligence. The plan is for the Su-57 to replace Mig-29 and Su-27.
S-400 Triumph
Previously known as S-30 PMU-3, the Triumph is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system developed in the 1990s by Russia’s Almaz Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering. It is an upgrade to the S-300 family.
It went into service in April 2007. The Economist described it in 2017 as “potent and one of the best air-defence systems currently made”.
It is another superior toy in the hands of Russia. S-40 can discover air targets in a 370 miles radius and take them down in a 250 mile radius.
The difference between Triumph, and the US system of the same purpose, Patriot, is that it can target rockets from all directions. The MIM-104 Patriot can rotate only 180 degrees and needs 30 minutes to deploy. Patriot also has a smaller range, half of the Russian.
Su-35
Known also as Flanker-E, the Sukhoi Su-35 is a single-seat, twin-engine aircraft. It was originally developed by the Soviet Union from the Su-27 and was known as the Su-27M.
But since 2003, Russia upgraded the plane thanks to the Sukhoi PAK FA program. The Su-35 has a redesigned cockpit and weapons-control system. Features include thrust-vectoring engines in place of the canards.
While it is not the most dangerous and powerful fighter, it has the potential to become one. It has much better electronics than the F-15.
T-14 Armata
Widely considered the breaking point in tank technology of the 21st century. The T-14 Armata is the first tank of the third generation.
The main battle tank, based on the Armata Universal Combat Platform, can be controlled by people not sitting in front. Instead, they sit in the back of the tank, and control with a digital remote controller and computer. This allows soldiers to survive an explosion.
The US counterpart is the M1 Abrams, a third-generation tank as well. But the difference is Abrams does not provide the same protection. And Armata has a longer range and can fire 10 times within a minute. Abrams can fire only three times per minute.
