MOSCOW (REUTERS) - A leading Russian hypersonics expert has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state-controlled TASS news agency reported on Friday (Aug 5).

Andrei Shiplyuk heads the hypersonics laboratory at the Novosibirsk Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, according to the institute's website, and has in recent years coordinated research to support the development of hypersonic missile systems.

TASS cited one of Shiplyuk's colleagues as saying searches had been conducted at the institute.

Last month Dmitry Kolker, another Novosibirsk-based physicist, died of pancreatic cancer shortly after being arrested on suspicion of treason.