Putin Further Explains the Oreshnik System’s Strategic Impact

Dec. 1—In his Nov. 28 press conference following the CSTO summit in Astana, Russian President Vladimir Putin elaborated on the new Oreshnik hypersonic missile which struck a military-industrial target in Ukraine on Nov. 21. As transcribed on the President’s website, Putin again explained that the Oreshnik system has the power of a strategic nuclear warhead, but it is non-nuclear—in other words, it has raised the threshold for a nuclear conflict, although the danger certainly remains.

“Concerning strike capabilities, I have already addressed this. If we deploy multiple such systems simultaneously in a single strike—say, two, three, or four systems—it would be comparable in force to the use of nuclear weapons, albeit they are not nuclear. This is because they are: a) high-precision; b) not equipped with a nuclear explosive device, thus they do not cause environmental contamination. Yet, the force would be comparable.”

Asked about whether or not the Oreshnik strike of Nov. 21 contained any sort of warhead, Putin explained that the system was still under development, with more tests planned to determine "the balance between range and warhead.

“The greater the range, the smaller the warhead; conversely, the shorter the range, the more potent the warhead. The system is capable of lifting a greater payload in this scenario, that’s the crux of it.”

As for the huge destructive potential of the missile, which flies at Mach 10, “the appropriate elements were employed as the impact components, and they serve as damage agents as well. As I have mentioned, these are quite potent elements that are heated to a temperature of 4,000 degrees. If I am not mistaken, (you can check online), the surface of the Sun is approximately 5,600-6,000 degrees, making it comparable to solar surface temperatures…. A kinetic impact is a formidable force, akin to a meteorite impact…. Similarly here, the damage is substantial: everything at the center is reduced to ash, breaking down into its elemental components, and objects located at a depth of three or four, possibly even more, floors below are affected. These are fortified structures, not merely floors. The impact force is immense. Of course, more can be added to amplify the effect.”

Putin added later in the press conference: “We have enough weapons, although I understand, and we are all aware that the emergence of such a weapon as the Oreshnik missile system strengthens Russia’s military positions because this is obviously a non-nuclear weapon but the results of its impact and its power, as I have already mentioned, are equal to those of nuclear weapons, especially if several systems are used to deliver a strike. It matters, doesn’t it?”