What can be the list of targets in the United States for the Russian "Avangard"?

The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation held another single day of acceptance of military products on August 10, 2021. This event is held quarterly. The commander of the 13th Missile Division, Major General Andrey Cherevko, reported to Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu that the first regiment armed with “Avangard” strategic hypersonic missile systems will be on combat duty from the end of 2021:

"Work is underway to prepare two launch facilities with missiles. The re-equipping is carried out according to the approved schedule. The loading of missiles into silos and bringing them into readiness for combat use is planned for the fourth quarter of 2021."

The “Avangard” regiment normally includes six launch facilities. The first two launchers went on combat duty on December 27, 2019, the second two launchers - in December 2020. Taking into account the information voiced by the commander of the 13th Missile Division, it turns out that by the end of 2021, the first missile regiment with the “Avangard” missile system will be put on combat duty.

In total, it is planned to re-equip two missile regiments with "Avangard". Total: it is planned to have twelve launchers of this missile system in the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF).

Major General Andrey Cherevko also said: "In the period up to 2023, it is planned to put another missile regiment on combat duty in the 13th Missile Division with the ‘Avangard’ strategic missile system."

It should be noted that the installation of all the "Avangard" into service was planned for up to 2027. Nevertheless, a pattern was revealed for putting them on combat duty – two launchers a year, as a rule, in the month of December. With such a frequency, the Strategic Missile Forces would have  received all twelve "Avangard" by the end of 2024.

By the way, it is planned to increase the share of modern missile systems to 100% in 2024, that is, the Strategic Missile Forces will cross the line beyond which there will be no Soviet-made missile systems in combat.

New information about the deployment of another missile regiment in the 13th Missile Division with the “Avangard" strategic missile system in the period up to 2023 indicates an acceleration in the pace of rearmament for these missile systems. However, a number of experts believe that we can also talk about putting the regiment on combat duty in an incomplete composition, i.e. with two deployed launchers.

However, the analysis of the first part of the message by Andrey Cherevko about the entry on combat duty from the end of 2021 of the first regiment armed with "Avangard" strategic hypersonic missile systems suggests that in its second part about the entry on combat duty of the second regiment armed with these systems, by analogy, we are talking about a fully-fledged regiment. That is, in 2022, six launchers of this missile system should be on combat duty, and not two, as usual.

In addition, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu spoke indirectly on this topic during his speech at the annual expanded board of the Russian military department on December 21, 2020, when he announced the tasks for the 2021: "To complete the construction of infrastructure for the ‘Yars’ and ‘Avangard’ systems in Kozelsk, Yasny, Uzhur, Novosibirsk and Yoshkar-Ola."

If we talk about the general structure of the 15P771 “Avangard” missile system, then structurally it includes a launch vehicle in the form of a UR-100N UTTKh ballistic missile and one planning hypersonic combat unit 15Y71.

For 2021, additional funding was also allocated for the production of “Avangard” systems. At the same time, it should be understood that it is necessary to produce only planning hypersonic combat units 15Y71, and there are already UR-100N UTTKh intercontinental ballistic missiles: they are in storage. This, of course, simplifies the production task.

Thus, the military-political leadership of Russia is re-equipping the Strategic Missile Forces with “Avangard” hypersonic strategic missile systems at an accelerated pace. We must assume that this is due to the unique characteristics of this weapon, as well as to the upcoming changes in the military-political situation, primarily on the European continent.

The speed of the planning hypersonic combat unit reaches Mach 28, 28 times the speed of sound, which is equal to 9.5 kilometres per second. By the way, the second cosmic speed for the Earth is 11.2 kilometres per second. The American missile defence system is completely powerless in front of these weapons.

A strike at a depth of the continental United States can be delivered 15 minutes after launch. This will allow Russia to be second when firing a shot at the moment of a counter-nuclear missile strike, but to hit the targets first.

In addition, the twelve deployed “Avangard” are also a pre-emptive response to the US’ plans to deploy shorter-and medium-range ground-based missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Let these missiles be in the usual equipment, but they are able to solve strategic tasks due to high accuracy and flight range.

And again, there is need to remember that the power of the nuclear warhead of the “Avangard” is more than two megatons in TNT equivalent. This will be enough to destroy particularly important targets. Thus, it's guaranteed that the continental part of the territory of the United States will receive 24 megatons within 15 minutes after the launch, which is quite enough to cause irrecoverable damage. By the way, some Russian military analysts name the San Andreas Fault and the Yellowstone Volcano as particularly important targets on the territory of the United States.

Of course, Russia is creating such weapons as the "Avangard" not for use in a preventive strike, but for deterrence, solely to sober up the American establishment, which is actually concerned about the issue of its personal security. And as soon as this sense of security disappears, the American elite becomes much more negotiable and reasonable.