The director of a Russian laboratory working on hypersonic missiles, a weapon in which President Vladimir Putin claims a strategic advantage for Russia, has been arrested on suspicion of treason, state news agency Tass reported on Friday.
Hypersonic missiles can travel up to nine times the speed of sound, and Putin said these Russian missiles are unrivaled and will be deployed with the Navy in the coming months.
Andrei Shiplyuk heads the hypersonic laboratory of the institute for theoretical and applied mechanics in Novosibirsk and has coordinated research in recent years to support the development of hypersonic missile systems, according to the institute’s website.
Last month, Tass reported the arrest of Anatoly Maslov, another senior scientist at the institute, located in the Soviet-era Akademgorodok science park in Novosibirsk, about 2,800km east of Moscow.
According to Tass, Shiplyuk’s colleagues said Friday the institute was being searched. An unnamed source said Shiplyuk was transferred to Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, according to the state news agency.
The Ministry of Defense said in May that it had successfully tested a Zircon hypersonic missile at a range of about 1,000km, and days later the Northern Fleet commander announced that the system would be deployed on a new frigate before the end of the year.
In recent years, several Russian scientists have been accused of treason, punishable by up to 20 years in prison for allegedly handing over sensitive materials to foreigners. Kremlin critics say arrests are often the result of unfounded paranoia.
source: Noticias
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