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<\/div>\nAfter the Russian military\u2019s Strategic Missile Forces (RVSN)\u00a0used the latest \u201cOreshnik\u201d missile in Dnepropetrovsk on November 21<\/a>, the world was left shocked, with news ranging from \u201cend of the world\u201d scaremongering to ridicule.<\/em><\/p>\n Some major German media outlets resorted to the latter, with\u00a0Julian Roepcke<\/strong>\u00a0(better known as Jihadi Julian<\/a>), one of the more prominent \u201cmilitary experts\u201d at the\u00a0Bild,<\/strong>\u00a0a German tabloid, saying that the missile \u201clikely carried no explosive charge and did not cause any significant damage\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n Roepcke\u2019s report, published on November 23<\/a>, says that the launch was \u201ca propaganda and political action rather than a military one\u201d, as there was\u00a0\u201cneither a nuclear charge nor explosives inside\u201d<\/strong>. The German author insists \u201cthat\u2019s the reason the damage was so insignificant\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n As many analysts have already suggested (myself included,\u00a0both last year<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0in April<\/a>), Roepcke also believes that the missile is most likely based on the RS-26 \u201cRubezh\u201d (although this is yet to be confirmed). However, he erroneously thought that \u201cthe \u2018Oreshnik\u2019 didn\u2019t contain explosives or a warhead and would have been equipped with a substitute of the same size and weight to simulate the appearance of a nuclear warhead\u201d.<\/p>\n According to Sputnik FYI (yet to be confirmed by reliable Western sources):<\/p>\n While this is true for regular missile tests, the launch of the \u201cOreshnik\u201d was anything but. Namely, the RVSN used\u00a036 advanced kinetic penetrators<\/a>\u00a0to strike heavily fortified targets, including those deep underground. Thus, it\u2019s quite clear that Roepcke\u2019s virtually immediate disregard of the \u201cOreshnik\u2019s\u201d capabilities was a careless miscalculation, to say the least.<\/p>\n President Vladimir Putin himself stated that the missile is effectively unstoppable, but this too was met with disregard and even ridicule.\u00a0For some inexplicable reason<\/a>, neither the mainstream propaganda machine nor its bosses in the political West\u2019s leadership seem to be able to learn from their mistakes. Namely,\u00a0when President Putin says something, it should be taken very seriously<\/a>.\u00a0For instance,\u00a0back in 2004<\/a>, just two years after the United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the ABM (anti-ballistic missile) Treaty,\u00a0he publicly promised<\/a>\u00a0that Russia would resume the development of hypersonic weapons started during the (First) Cold War.<\/strong>\u00a0However, nobody listened,\u00a0as NATO was convinced that the Eurasian giant was \u201cfinished\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(nothing could be\u00a0further from true<\/a>).<\/p>\n Just two years after that speech, Moscow inducted the \u201cIskander-M\u201d missile system, along with\u00a0its 9M723 hypersonic missile<\/a>. Since then, the Russian military acquired at least a dozen types of such weapons, resulting in an advantage measured in decades.\u00a0Back in 2019, I argued that<\/a>\u00a0the Kremlin was at least 20 years ahead of its NATO adversaries, including the US.<\/strong>\u00a0This turned out to be not only true, but it can even be argued that the \u201cOreshnik\u201d ensured this advantage grows further. Now, much unlike Roepcke, it seems that the German military understands\u00a0just how outclassed it is<\/a>, especially by such weapons.\u00a0Namely, Roepcke\u2019s own newspaper, the Bild, disagrees with his previously mentioned report about the \u201cOreshnik\u201d. First, the outlet lamented that\u00a0Russia deployed the missile in Belarus<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the report<\/a>, a recently leaked internal document showed that the Federal Foreign Office (AA) warned that \u201cGermany is not adequately protected against this deadly danger\u201d<\/strong>.\u00a0Interestingly, the document also posits that \u201cthe current protection provided by \u2018Patriot\u2019 systems is not sufficient\u201d and that \u201cthe federal government now wants to close the gap\u201d.<\/strong>\u00a0The report also points out<\/a>\u00a0that interception rates are atrocious and that the extremely overhyped US-made ABM\/SAM (surface-to-air missile) system would \u201cbase their performance on sheer luck\u201d when it comes to intercepting Russian missiles (particularly something like the \u201cOreshnik\u201d). The Bild also added that\u00a0Berlin would purchase the Israeli \u201cArrow\u201d ABM system<\/a>\u00a0to \u201chelp strengthen Germany\u2019s defense against new types of missiles\u201d.<\/p>\n A US Patriot missile battery is seen firing during a drill at Fort Bliss, Texas. (Credit: US Army \/ Sgt. Ian Vega-Cerezo)<\/p>\n Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptors is launched during a successful intercept test.<\/p>\n It\u2019s quite interesting that the Germans openly said that\u00a0the \u201cPatriot\u201d<\/a>\u00a0cannot effectively intercept hypersonic weapons. Namely, for nearly three years, the Kiev regime has been saying its forces\u00a0regularly \u201cshoot down\u201d Russian hypersonic missiles<\/a>. I\u2019ve argued numerous times that\u00a0such claims are virtually guaranteed to be nothing more than war propaganda<\/a>. Simply put,\u00a0the numbers behind all this just don\u2019t add up<\/a>. This fact is supported by other globally renowned experts, including senior military officers. Namely, retired Group Captain Uttam Kumar Devnath from the Indian Air Force\u00a0recently stated that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cRussia\u2019s \u2018Oreshnik\u2019 missile system is beyond the interception capabilities of Western defense systems like the \u2018Patriot\u2019 and THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe \u2018Oreshnik\u2019, described as a hypersonic, intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), is claimed to travel at speeds that exceed Mach 10, making it, according to Devnath,\u00a0\u2018too fast for radar targeting<\/strong>\u2018. This speed, coupled with its maneuverability, purportedly renders it\u00a0impervious to interception by current Western missile defense technologies,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0the Indian Defence Research Wing reported, quoting Group Captain Devnath and adding<\/a>: \u201cThe \u2018Oreshnik\u2019s\u2019 velocity and ability to alter its trajectory are cited as key reasons why systems like the \u2018Patriot\u2019, designed to counter ballistic threats, would fail to engage it effectively. Devnath highlighted the missile\u2019s design, suggesting it leverages stealth technologies and hypersonic flight principles to evade detection and interception.\u201d<\/p>\n President Putin has already\u00a0publicly called on NATO to pick any target<\/a>, deploy its\u00a0much-touted SAM\/ABM systems to defend it<\/a>\u00a0and promised that the Russian military would neutralize it either way<\/strong>. Such confidence serves as a testament to\u00a0Moscow\u2019s unrivaled hypersonic capabilities<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0Obviously, the political West would never accept such a proposal, which speaks volumes about the veracity of the claims that NATO-sourced missile defenses are supposedly \u201cshooting down\u201d Russian hypersonic weapons left and right. It should also be noted that the usually quoted speed of Mach 10 for the \u201cOreshnik\u201d is quite misleading, as the missile it was based on, namely the RS-26 \u201cRubezh\u201d, can actually fly at speeds of anywhere between Mach 20 and Mach 25 (7-8,5 km\/s or 25,000-30,000 km\/h).<\/p>\n The \u201cOreshnik\u201d is not only a major asset for Russia, but also for the whole multipolar world, as\u00a0it offers\u00a0a massive advantage<\/a>\u00a0in non-nuclear strategic deterrence<\/strong>.\u00a0Although surely nuclear-capable<\/a>, the \u201cOreshnik\u201d is armed with a conventional MIRV\/MaRV\/HGV payload composed of 36 advanced kinetic penetrators (six in each of the six warheads).<\/p>\n Coupled with its speed and maneuverability, this makes it the most powerful conventional weapon ever devised<\/strong>. This combination is what makes\u00a0hypersonic weapons effectively impossible to track and intercept<\/a>. Namely, unlike traditional ballistic missiles which fly at a predictable path, hypersonic weapons maneuver, making the\u00a0interception based on the calculations of ballistic computers completely useless and void<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on\u00a0InfoBrics<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Drago Bosnic<\/strong>\u00a0is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Featured image\u00a0source<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.globalresearch.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/oreshnik-middle-east.png\")
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