The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, revealed rocket and aerospace engineer Gerbert Efremov as the main person in charge of creating the country's hypersonic weapons, during a videoconference on defense. 

Moscow.- Putin thanked Efremov, who headed the scientific and production center for machinery construction, for his work to ensure that Russia was, for the first time in history, at the forefront of weapons development in the world.

The Russian president estimated that in the nation's current conditions, the implementation of Efremov's ideas can be compared to the realization of the Soviet Union's missile and atomic projects, carried out by scientists such as Karaliov and Kurchatov, he pointed out.

Putin recalled that the withdrawal of the United States from the Anti-Missile Defense Treaty in 2002 forced the development of hypersonic weapons, although he recalled that the first tests with this technology were carried out in June 2001, at the Plisetsk polygon.

We had to create this type of weaponry in response to the deployment by the United States of its antimissile shield that sought to nullify Russia's strategic deterrent capacity, by eliminating the possibility of responding to a nuclear attack, explained the statesman.

For this reason, since 2004 a large-scale project has been launched to create hypersonic weapons, Putin declared, shortly after US President Donald Trump in Washington speculated on the alleged theft of American secrets to manufacture hypersonic weapons.

However, local analysts recall that since March 2018, when Putin publicly presented the new Russian weapons, the White House considered that it would soon also be in a position to have hypersonic weapons. But, for now nothing concrete has appeared.

In addition, Russia announced that it was already starting work on prospective projects to manufacture a future defense equipment capable of destroying hypersonic weapons.

The Russian press emphasizes that, lately, when real competitors appear, as happened with the 5G developed by the Chinese company Huawei, the Tik Tok video program or the Russian vaccine against the Covid-19 pandemic, Washington denounces technology theft or announces sanctions. (PL)