Revealing the Russian military's 'monstrous' Oreshnik hypersonic missile

The Russian military's Oreshnik hypersonic missile, with a range of 5,500 km, is challenging all the world's leading air defense systems.

Russian military's Oreshnik hypersonic missile. (Source: Topwar)

With a range exceeding 5,000km, the Oreshnik missile is capable of covering all of Europe, including the UK, Portugal and Scandinavia, as well as the entire Middle East and North Africa.

According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia on December 20, President Vladimir Putin recently challenged the air defense missile systems of Western countries. Mr. Putin confidently declared that the opponent has no chance of shooting down a hypersonic missile like Oreshnik.

The Russian president said that the Oreshnik has a range of up to 5,500 km, showing a significant development in Russian military technology. He stressed that there is currently no way to counter the Oreshnik missile.

The Russian leader revealed that this missile attacks its target at a speed of Mach 10, equivalent to 2.5–3 km/s. “Modern air defense systems in the world and the missile defense system developed by the US in Europe cannot stop our new weapon,” Mr. Putin said at his year-end press conference.

Based on published information, the Oreshnik missile may have been developed based on the RS-26 Rubezh missile, which was also a product of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering in the 2000s. The Oreshnik is equipped with multiple MIRV warheads to attack various targets.

The Oreshnik missile also uses advanced hypersonic technology tested by Russia and applied to many other ballistic weapons.

Commenting on this type of missile, former US National Security Advisor, General Herbert McMaster said it would take at least 15 years to create an air defense system capable of intercepting Russia's Oreshnik missile.

"Our probabilistic missile defense models show that the US THAAD and Aegis systems cannot be used against Oreshnik and are unlikely to achieve the required reliability within the next 15 years," General McMaster said.

Sharing this view, Irish journalist Chay Bowes wrote on social network X that NATO does not have weapons to counter Russia's Oreshnik missile.

"NATO has no answer to Russia's latest Oreshnik missile system. They cannot stop Oreshnik and they know it. They also know that it will take years before they can get close. Oreshnik can strike anywhere in Europe at will. The Russian bear has awakened!", the Irish journalist noted.