RS-26 Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile: Russian weapon that can't be tracked, six nuclear capable warheads, range is..., bad news for US, Ukraine, NATO

India.com

2 days ago

Russia Ukraine war: Ukraine shocked Russia by launching 117 first-person view (FPV) drones deep inside its territory as part of Operation Spider's Web which destroyed about 40 Russia's advanced bombers and other military aircraft like the A-50, TU-95, and TU-22M3. This attack, launched on June1, was strategically very significant and aimed at weakening Russia's air power. It was a humiliating moment for the mighty Russian setup as Ukraine launched the largest drone attack on Russia to date and that too very deep inside Russia's Irkutsk region in Siberia, almost 4500 km from the border.
The coordinated strikes targeted the Russian Air Force's Long-Range Aviation assets at five air bases of Belaya, Dyagilevo, Ivanovo Severny, Olenya, and Ukrainka.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video message informing about the operation.
Now the whole world waits with bated breath for the retaliatory action of Vladimir Putin. Many are speculating that Moscow might unleash its nuclear might.
However, it possesses another weapon that is almost as destructive as a nuclear bomb. It is the nuclear capable RS-26 Oreshnik Missile and some analysts argue that Putin might ask the army to keep the RS-26 Oreshnik nuclear capable missile at the standby.
Oreshnik is a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) characterized by its reported speed exceeding Mach 10 or 12,300 kmh (7,610 mph; 3.40 km/s).
Russian forces have used the Oreshnik missile on November 21, 2024 in an attack on the PA Pivdenmash facility in Dnipro. The most outstanding feature of this missile is its hypersonic speed of over Mach 10 (12300 kmh) which makes it almost impossible to intercept by the current air defence systems.
One Oreshnik is armed with six warheads, each reportedly containing submunitions. This is known as a Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) payload. This feature means the missile can target multiple points simultaneously, further complicating interception efforts for existing air defence systems.
The missile has an incredible range of 5,800 to 6,000 kilometers, thus bringing most parts of Europe and Asia in its reach, especially if launched from certain locations.
The Oreshnik has raised alarms among NATO countries and even the USA has taken a serious view of this system.
According to Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief and military analyst of the National Defense Magazine, has said that even enemy spy satellites could not track this Russian missile. Even if you do, by the time the enemy gets the news from the satellite, its warheads will have caused havoc.
'Just let them set the target,' Igor said. If Russia once sets a target for Kyiv, then no air defense system in the world present there will be able to stop this missile.
Oreshnik is fired from a mobile ground missile launch system. Therefore, no spy satellite in the world can track its launch on the basis of a single location. Its launch system can be taken anywhere while the satellite was focusing on only one place and the missile was launched from another place. The special thing is that the Oreshnik missile also has an anti-missile manoeuver. That is, if someone sends a missile towards it for interception, then it will deviate from its path and remain safe.
Each warhead of this missile has its own propulsion system. How many warheads will the enemy's interception missile target? Each of its warheads can move towards the target by deceiving the enemy's missile. That means that Oreshnik will destroy the target in every situation, says Igor.
The weapons that are installed in it produce a temperature of 4000 degrees Celsius which can melt any metal and reduce concrete to ashes. The surface temperature of the sun is 5 to 6.5 thousand degrees Celsius and going by this comparison, wherever this missile will strike, devastation of a very high magnitude is certain. This feature of the Oreshnik was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.