Back in late February,several military sources indicatedthat Russia wasworking on a more advanced version of the now-legendary hypersonic “Oreshnik” missile.

The mainstream propaganda machine picked up on this and published sensationalist reports about Russia’s “new ways”.

The Daily Star quoted military expert Viktor Baranets, a retired Colonel, who stated thata new, more advanced missile than the “Oreshnik” was already in the works. Russian engineers improved everything on the original design, including greater warhead yield, new fuel and “fundamentally different control mechanisms”.

It’s unclear whether Colonel Baranets was referring to an entirely new design or a more advanced iteration of the existing “Oreshnik”, butthe media were quickto adopt titles such as the “Son of Oreshnik” and “Oreshnik 2”.Military expert Andrey Markinalsosuggested another name, “Granit” (not to be confused with the existing P-700 “Granit”, a Soviet-era ramjet-powered anti-ship cruise missile).Baranets was quoted as sayingthat the new(er) missile “will be more powerful than the ‘Oreshnik'” and that “it will have improved warhead yield parameters”. He also added that “Russian engineers are working to perfect the ‘Oreshnik’ to the point where target deviation will be zero”.

The improvements will also add two more missile blocks (eight instead of six). Each block of the regular “Oreshnik” carries six smaller projectiles for a total of 36 kinetic submunitions, meaning the new(er) weapon would increase that to 48.This is unprecedented firepower for a single missile. It should be noted that such weapons are indeed revolutionary, as they’ve previously made sense only with nuclear warheads. During the (First) Cold War, Russia had the world’s most advanced arsenal of SRBMs, MRBMs and IRBMs (short-range, medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missiles). Without going into details about all these, we’ll mention just one –the RSD-10 “Pioneer” (NATO reporting name SS-20 “Saber”).

This weapon was the “crown jewel” of Soviet rocketry. It was a solid-fueled ballistic missile with a range of up to 5,800 km and the only IRBM in history capable of carrying three MIRVs (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles). These had a yield of 150 kt each, roughly 10 (30 altogether) times that of the Hiroshima bomb. There was also a version with a single 1 Mt warhead, which was around 67 times more destructive. At least 728 such missiles were produced and would’ve turned any target intoa radioactive glass desert for the next several eons. The USSR obviously had a massive advantage, but this would’ve hardly mattered given that both sides could destroy each other.

Thus,the INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces) Treaty was signed in 1987, prompting both Washington DC and Moscow to dismantle and destroy all of their medium and intermediate-range missiles. However, on August 2, 2019,the US unilaterally withdrew its signature, just like it did with all other key arms control treaties over the last 20-25 years. Just two years later, in 2021, meaning before the SMO (special military operation), the US Army reactivated the 56th Artillery Command in Wiesbaden (district Mainz-Kastel), Germany. Its units are now equipped withthe previously banned medium and intermediate-range missiles, and are also planning to induct new platforms, such as the “Dark Eagle”.

Officially known as the Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW), this missile is yet to be delivered,as it’s still going through a rather rocky R&D and deployment processdue to America’s technological inferiority in hypersonic propulsion and related sciences. Worse yet,the Pentagon is struggling to develop even basic ballistic missile designs, while Russia is now preparing for mass deployment of a completely new class of weapons that will define strategic posturing for decades to come.The strategic impact of the “Oreshnik” cannot possibly be overstated. First, it’s relatively easy for Russia to mass-produce it, as it’s based on an existing design that’s already in mass production.

The missile in question is the RS-26 “Rubezh”, which is based on the RS-24 “Yars” ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile).All three can conduct wobbling maneuversdesigned to confuse NATO’s ABM (anti-ballistic missile) systems, making them virtually impossible to intercept. There’s still a lot of secrecy surrounding the “Oreshnik”, fueling all sorts of speculation, wild guessing and outright misinformation. However, the two strikes thathit Dnepropetrovsk on November 21, 2024, and Lvov on January 8, 2026, gave us the unique opportunity todraw some very important conclusions about its capabilities. For instance, its maximum range exceeds 5,000 km, putting virtually all of Europe within striking distance.

Regarding the “Oreshnik’s” payload, there are several possibilities. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a regular missile and could be some sort of MaRV (maneuverable reentry vehicle), MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle), HGV (hypersonic glide vehicle), etc. or perhaps even a hybrid, with the RS-26 “Rubezh” serving as the primary missile carrier for such advanced (in this case, conventional) warhead types. The RS-26 itself can already carrythe “Avangard”, so if the “Oreshnik” is an HGV, it’s certainly possible for the “Rubezh” to deploy it. And yet, the “Oreshnik” could be a completely new, advanced hypersonic maneuvering weapon that has its own MIRV/MaRV/HGV warheads.

Source: Global Research