Putin said Russia is starting mass production of a ballistic missile that he wants to 'duel' with US-made defenses
Russia is scaling up its production of Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic missiles, which Russian President Vladimir Putin previously put forward as a possible duel contender against US missile defense systems.
Putin told a graduating class of military cadets on Monday that Russia is accelerating production of the Oreshnik missile, which was first used against Ukraine in November.
"Serial production of the latest Oreshnik medium-range missile system is under way," said Putin in the televised address, per Reuters.
With a range of up to about 3,415 miles, the Oreshnik is capable of reaching targets across Europe and even the western United States.
Putin has said that the missile is nearly impossible to intercept and can carry a destructive force comparable to that of a nuclear weapon.
After the Oreshnik was used to strike Ukraine's Dnipro region in November, Putin said there were "currently no ways of counteracting this weapon," per the BBC.
Putin has previously made claims about how unstoppable certain Russian missiles are, only to see them downed in combat a short while later.
A missile duel
In December, Putin proposed a "duel" with the US to show the Oreshnik's alleged supremacy over US-made systems. "We're ready for such an experiment," he said.
But Michael Bohnert, a defense analyst at RAND, told Business Insider that while the missile's range and speed pose challenges, its practical impact might be overstated.
"When it comes to the ability of Oreshnik missiles and bypassing defenses, the fundamental issue with missile defense is not capability but the quantity and location of missile defenses tailored to the threat," he said.
"Oreshnik missiles are incredibly expensive for their limited conventional warhead size and quantity," he added. "While it has the range to target many locations without matching air defenses, its literal kinetic impact would still be low for the cost."
However, Bohnert said that the missiles do force the need for "more matching air defenses to protect critical infrastructure."
Grace Mappes, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, argued that the Oreshnik does not represent a major shift in Russia's military capabilities.
She told BI that Russia has other missiles with comparable ranges and greater payloads.
"Russia regularly strikes Ukraine with nuclear-capable missiles and has long had missiles in mainland Russia and Kaliningrad capable of striking NATO states," she said.
"These capabilities have not changed," she added. "Russia is just using the Oreshnik to make an old threat upon which Russia has never acted seem new."
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