Moscow: The state-run TASS news agency said that the director of a Russian laboratory working on these missiles has been detained on charges of treason. According to President Vladimir Putin, Russia has a strategic advantage in developing hypersonic missiles
Putin has claimed that Russia has unmatched hypersonic missiles that will be deployed with the Navy in the coming months. The maximum speed of hypersonic missiles is nine times the speed of sound.
According to the institute's website, Andrei Shipluk oversees the Hypersonics Laboratory at the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and has recently coordinated research to aid in the development of hypersonic missile systems.
According to last month's TASS report, a senior scientist at the Shiplyuk Institute, which is located in the former Soviet science park of Akademorodok in Novosibirsk, about 2,800 kilometers (1,750 mi) east of Moscow, was also detained.
According to a source familiar with the investigation of the FSB intelligence agency, Maslov was suspected of revealing state secrets about hypersonic technology.
TASS reported on Friday that searches were conducted at the institute, citing Shipluk's colleagues and, according to an unnamed source, he was taken to Moscow's Lefortovo prison.
In May, the Defense Ministry announced that a hypersonic Zircon missile at a range of about 1,000 km (625 mi) had been successfully tested. A few days later, the commander of the Northern Fleet announced that the system would be installed on a new battleship before the end of the year.
Several Russian scientists have recently been charged with treason, with 20 years in prison for allegedly disclosing highly confidential information to foreigners.
Critics of the Kremlin claim that arrests often result in irrational paranoia. Doctor of Physics and Mathematics Dmitry Kolkar, a laser specialist at Novosibirsk State University, died last month of pancreatic cancer, shortly after being detained on suspicion of working with Chinese security services.
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