American Hypersonic Weapons 'Threat to Russia' - Rogozin

DUBNA, May 11 (RIA Novosti)

American research into hypersonic weapons, which the U.S. aims to complete by 2015, represents an especially serious threat to Russia, acting Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

"This breakthrough decision by the U.S. opens up for them the prospect of a transition from a demonstrator prototype to creation of a multirole hypersonic missile by 2015-2018," Rogozin said during a visit to the Raduga "Bereznyak" state-owned missile design bureau at Dubna in the Moscow Region.

Rogozin, who has responsibility in the Russian government for the military-industrial complex, picked out American development work in the X-51, Falcon, HiFire and HyFly programs as examples of the perspective threat posed by U.S. hypersonic development work.

"The undertaking of this work allows us to lay the basis for creation of a national competitor in hypersonic weapons," he said.

Development of such a weapon should be discussed at the highest levels of state, he said.

Earlier this year India announced a joint project with Russia's NPO Mashinostroeniye missile producer to build a hypersonic successor to its BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.

Raduga and NPO Mashinostroeniye both carried out research work in hypersonic weapons during the Soviet era but did not produce a working weapon.