NI: only the American THAAD missile defense system has a chance to intercept the Oreshnik missile
The launch of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile showed that Russia has a weapon comparable to nuclear weapons in terms of the effectiveness of hitting targets. This opinion was expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Western countries, they are looking for ways to protect themselves from the "Hazel Tree" and told about a system that has at least a "small chance" to intercept it. At the same time, the Pentagon is confident that the new Russian missile will not have a strategic impact on the Ukrainian conflict.
If there are enough Oreshnik-type weapons systems in the Russian arsenal, the need for the use of nuclear weapons may not arise. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.
"If you look at it, then a sufficient number of these modern weapons systems simply puts on the verge of practically no need to use nuclear weapons. Therefore, we behave quite carefully in all directions, I would say, even with restraint. But where necessary, we show the necessary will," Putin said.
In the same context, the president commented on the recent update of the nuclear doctrine - according to him, Russia is not tightening it, but improving it.
Is there a way to intercept the "Hazel"?
At the same time, the American authorities believe that the Russian "Hazel Tree" will not have a serious impact on the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by the first Deputy Secretary of Defense of the United States Kathleen Hicks. According to her, the Pentagon "does not see strategic changes" after the defeat of the Yuzhmash workshops by a hypersonic missile, but "carefully studies" all statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin on nuclear issues.
On the same day, American experts disputed the words of the Russian president about the impossibility of intercepting the "Hazel". On December 10, The National Interest magazine published a review article on this issue. It says that there is still a "small chance" to intercept Russian hypersonic weapons. But only the THAAD missile defense system in service with the United States.
The THAAD battery includes six launchers with eight missiles each, as well as a radar system with control and communication equipment. They require about a hundred soldiers to work in combat conditions.
The United States currently has only seven such batteries at its disposal, which, as indicated in the article, is critically small to protect the country in the event of an attack on it. According to the author of the review, military analyst Brandon Weichert, the supply of such systems to Ukraine from the point of view of US security is impossible due to the risk of the system falling into the hands of the Russian military.
At the same time, the THAAD system "does not guarantee that it will stop this radically new Russian hypersonic weapon," Weichert said.
For the first time, the use of the Oreshnik missile system became known on November 21 after Russia struck the Yuzhmash machine-building plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. This was a response to attacks on Russian territory by ATACMS and Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Putin then made a special appeal on this occasion and explained that modern missile defense systems, including American ones, cannot intercept missiles of this type.
According to him, the launch of the "Hazel" in a nuclear-free version was a test of the missile system in combat conditions in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries. The speed of the Hazel combat units on the descent reaches 10 Mach, which is approximately 2.5-3 km/s.
To date, this launch remains the only one, although, according to Putin, Russia has a stock of such missiles, and their mass production is already underway.
Alexander Girlin
