the US-Russian “reset”

Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
President Donald Trump recently asserted that Russia had stolen plans for an American hypersonic missile Trump called the “super-duper” during the administration of President Barack Obama, and that these stolen plans served as the basis of Russia’s current arsenal of advanced hypersonic weapons. Trump’s allegation repeats a claim he first made on the campaign trail in October 2023. It is likely that Trump is referring to information derived from a counterintelligence briefing he received during his first term in office.

Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
The notion that Russian hypersonic weapons are derived from American research and development is facially absurd.
In fact, it appears that the opposite is the case—that the United States has acquired research from Russian hypersonic weapons programs and incorporated it into American weapons systems.

Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
Russia’s most advanced hypersonic weapon is the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle. It is derived from research and development programs dating back to Soviet times, but which were halted after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War due to a lack of funding and changing geopolitical realities.

Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter

Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia resumed development of hypersonic capabilities in the aftermath of the withdrawal by the United States from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty. Initial work is believed to have begun around 2005.

Scott Ritter
@RealScottRitter
However, Russia held off from fully funding this effort in hopes that it might be able to re-inject ABM issues into the US-Russian strategic dialogue that was taking place in the aftermath of the US-Russian “reset” that took place early on during the first term of the Obama administration. When, in the aftermath of the signing and ratification of the New START treaty in 2010, it became clear that the Obama administration had no intention of meaningfully engaging on issues pertaining to missile defense, Russia made the decision to move forward with the development of hypersonic capabilities in order to deploy weapons capable of defeating all known and projected US ABM capabilities.