On November 21, the Russian Armed Forces used the latest medium-range missile «Oreshnik» with hypersonic equipment for the first time. Little is known about it. The missile may be based on developments for the promising ground-based mobile complex RS-26 «Rubezh» or the Soviet RSD-10 «Pioneer». This opinion was expressed by military expert Sergei Marzhetsky.
Marzhetsky emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces have formidable weapons in service. Including missiles «Bulava», «Zircon», «Caliber». He wondered: what exactly will «Oreshnik» give Russia? According to the expert, there are two options for using the missile.
The first involves equipping the warheads of the missile with nuclear charges. This makes sense in the event of a direct collision with NATO countries, Marzhetsky suggested.
The second option ... «Oreshnik» may allow the implementation of the American orbital weapons program «Arrows of God» (The Rods from God), which was never implemented.
According to this program, arrows made of tungsten up to 9 meters long were to be placed on a spacecraft. After launch, the striking elements rush to Earth at a speed of 5 Mach. The kinetic energy of these arrows is enough to destroy underground bunkers, Marzhetsky summarized.
Read more on the topic:
What is Oreshnik?: How foreign experts reacted to Putin's new ballistic missile
РС-26 «Rubezh»: what is known about the latest Russian ballistic missile
Cut to «Oreshnik»: expert called Putin's missile mobility a unique factor
