From November 24-26, Russia’s Ministry of Defense displayed the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) to U.S. officials. According to a Russian Ministry of Defense statement, the visit was arranged “for the purpose of keeping the New START Treaty viable and effective;” the system is expected to go on combat alert in December 2019. The Avangard is is designed to fit to an SS-19 booster and features a range of over 6,000 km. The Kremlin announced that Avangard had entered serial production in 2018.