THE Pentagon scrambled to launch a rocket to run hypersonic weapon experiments just hours after Russia staged nuke drills.

It comes as it is understood the US is speeding up plans to store an upgraded version of its B61 gravity nuclear bombs in Europe.

Vladimir Putin oversaw land, sea and air exercises on Wednesday which,according to a Russian colonel, were to practise obliterating Britain and the US.

Shortly after the deranged tyrant unleashed a barrage of missiles, the US Navy and Army blasted off a sounding rocket from a seaside NASA base to test almost a dozen hypersonic weapon experiments.

According to the Pentagon, the test from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia was "successful" and was aimed at helping develop the hypersonic class of weapons.

Sandia National Laboratories ran the test to evaluate hypersonic weapon communications and navigation equipment as well as advanced materials that can withstand the heat in a "realistic hypersonic environment," according to the US Navy.

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Hypersonic glide vehicles are launched from a rocket in the upper atmosphere before gliding to a target at speeds of more than five times the speed of sound, or about 6,200 km per hour.

The US, Russia and China have quickened their pace to build hypersonic weapons – the next generation of arms that rob adversaries of reaction time and traditional defeat mechanisms.

In a bid to accelerate the development, the Pentagon launched the prototypes using a sounding rocket, a smaller and more affordable test vehicle.

Following the tests, the US is reported to have moved forward the deployment of its more accurate mainstay nuclear bombs from next spring to December, according to a US diplomatic cable.

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The Pentagon has around 100 nukes stored in bases in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Turkey.

Authorities in the states are set to bolster its arsenal in those NATO countries by upgrading the air-dropped bombs to a newer version sooner than planned, reports Politico.

It is understood US officials told NATO allies in a private meeting in Brussels that the upgrades will be arriving in December as tensions with Russia hit boiling point over the Ukraine war.

The weapons will be kept for potential use by bomber and fighter jets owned by the US and its allies.

According to the Pentagon, the newer version will ensure the stockpile is more modern and safer.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told the outlet the upgrade has been "underway for years" to "responsibly swap out older weapons".

It comes after Putin rehearsed wiping Britain and the US off the map in chilling World War 3 drills, according to Colonel Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of Russia’s National Defence magazine.

He said the UK would be "swallowed up" by the Atlantic Ocean, while in place of the US would be a "sea strait named after Comrade Stalin".

'TROUBLING DEVELOPMENTS'

Korotchenko told Russian state TV this was the purpose of the “strategic training exercise”, known as "Operation Thunder", amid boiling tensions over the Ukraine war unleashed by Putin.

He said: "The tests were practicing a massive nuclear missile strike in response to a first nuclear attack against Russia.

“Who could launch a first nuclear strike on Russia? The US and the UK.”

Video released by the Russian-military run Zvezda website of Wednesday's drills showed armed forces personnel in front of computers launching a Yars ballistic missile.

Other footage showed a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile being fired from a submarine in the Barents Sea and a TU-95 bomber that launched cruise missiles.

The Kremlin said that all tasks set for the exercise were fulfilled and all the missiles that were test-fired reached their designated targets.

Putin observed the annual exercise remotely as Russia rehearsed its response to a nuclear attack.

It comes after a US official warned of "troubling developments" involving Russia's nuclear arsenal.

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Fears are growing that Putin, 70, could detonate a nuke as Moscow continues to wildly swing its nuclear sabre.

The tyrant is becoming increasingly frustrated as his troops have been hit with a series of disastrous defeats across the frontline in Ukraine.

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