Russia's doomsday weapons

U.S. President Merkin Muffley denies the United States was ever working on a "doomsday machine" like the one the Russians were about to unveil. Soviet Ambassador Alexei de Sadeski corrects him: "Our source was The New York Times!"

Putin speaking

Status-6 as leaked to Russian TV news in 2015

Russia's new weapons

Putin's speech

• Presidential Address to Federal Assembly + video, (in Russian)
• Putin's Remarkable, Historic March 1 Speech in Moscow - Video Excerpts, Full Transcript - Russia Insider, March 1, 2018
• ‘Listen to us now’: Putin unveils new Russian nuclear arsenal - RT, March 1, 2018
• Putin unveils new Russian nuclear missile, says it renders defenses ‘useless’ - Alastair Jamieson, NBC News, March 1, 2018
• ‘Why would we want a world without Russia?’ Putin says Moscow won’t start nuclear holocaust - RT, March 7, 2018

2024

• Ebrahim @EBthewarrior on Twitter, February 29, 2024 (video)

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has given an update on the state of Russian arms development during his annual address to the Russian Parliament

The weapons

See also talk page

• Putin announces Russia possesses hypersonic weapons - TASS, March 1, 2018
• FULL Overview Of Putin’s New Weapons: From Hypersonic Missiles To Unmanned Underwater Drones - Russia Insight, (video)
• Here's The Six Super Weapons Putin Unveiled During Fiery Address - Joseph Trevithick, The Drive, March 1, 2018
• Vladimir Putin just revealed 6 brand new Russian weapons – and they are impressive- Alexander Mercouris, The Duran, March 2, 2018
• Russia’s new weapons, nuclear parity and arms race: What’s going on? - RT, March 26, 2018 (video)
• Russia Releases Video Of Six New Super Weapons After Trump Summit - ZeroHedge, July 20, 2018

Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System

• Status-6 Oceanic Multipurpose System - Wikipedia
• Analysis - Russian Status-6 aka KANYON nuclear deterrence and Pr 09851 submarine - H I Sutton, November 20, 2015 (mirror: Geopolitica.ru)
• Pentagon Deems Russian Nuclear-Capable Drone Sub a 'Major Strategic Threat' - Sputnik, December 12, 2016
• Russia’s nuclear underwater drone is real and in the Nuclear Posture Review - Valerie Insinna, Defense News, January 12, 2018
• Pentagon acknowledges Russia is developing a 'doomsday' nuclear-armed torpedo - New York Daily News, February 5, 2018
• Океанская многоцелевая система «Посейдон» - Минобороны России, July 19, 2018 (video)
• Russia says it's going to arm a secretive submarine with 6 nuclear 'doomsday' devices - Alex Lockie, Business Insider, March 12, 2019
• Silent and powerful: Nuclear underwater drone carrier set afloat – Russian MoD - RT, April 23, 2019
• Russia sends world’s largest underwater vessel to sea for first time, tests continue of nuclear armed mega-submarine 'Belgorod' - RT, June 29, 2021

Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missile

• It Is Official And It Is Over. - Andrei Martyanov, March 1, 2018

  The balance of power just shifted dramatically, with it the naval warfare as we knew it is no more. It is OVER!

  1. It moves aircraft carriers into the niche of pure power projection against weak and defenseless adversaries;
  2. It makes classic CBGs as main strike force against peer completely obsolete and useless, it also makes any surface combat ship defenseless regardless its air-defense capabilities.

• Russia's new cruise missile has crashed in testing: US - ABC News, March 1, 2018
• Putin's Air-Launched Hypersonic Weapon Appears To Be A Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile - Tyler Rogoway, The Drive, March 2, 2018
• Putin's Hypersonic Rocket Revealed To Be A Modified Iskander Ballistic Missile - ZeroHedge, March 3, 2018

Comment: Iskander (with solid fuel rocket engine) will be the simplest thing to do to fit the bill, with Iskander reaching Mach 6 in ground launch, and now launched from an almost 3 Mach MiG high up. Such launches may be used for testing particular systems (navigation, drop-off, etc), and this version used on video, for not revealing too much + demo purpose. The eventual product may be different (e.g. they may try a ramjet taking oxygen from air, not a rocket motor). But it is technologically more difficult. It is unclear what is the eventual technology or its actual state of readiness. They may also, for example, use Iskander motor as part of a two-stage missile, and we may not see second stage details on this photo. (Noted: this article says that Iskander system has ballistic and cruise missile versions, FWIW. And hose illustrations 1, 2 from here shows lots of Russian missiles not too different visually). --Resup (talk) 20:31, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Video - The missile has fins for terminal steering, unlike the Iskander. In this it resembles the North Korean antiship ballistic missile. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 23:54, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

• ВКС России выполнили учебно-боевой пуск гиперзвуковой ракеты комплекса "Кинжал" (Russian ASF carried out the training and combat launch of the hypersonic missile of the Dagger complex)-TASS, March 11, 2018; video.

  Notes: better visuals yet technical details unclear, may be two-staged; front cone may be detachable to make it air breathing like 'Brahmos' which is declared to have second stage ramjet. First stage (if such) nozzle not seen well but seems different from Iskander. First stage like Iskander may take it to over Mach 6, which in principle allows to start scramjet (air breathing with supersonic speed inside the engine too, without much slowing down; those may look very simple and light once they work and produce enough trust to overcome drag). They cover interesting features in front which may be to do with air intake (unclear), and also intaje may be hidden under detachable front cone. So, scramjet is not out of the question, in principle. But indeed it may be just a rocket, with nothing interesting in the front part, and not too different from Iskander. The jury is out on this, so far. --Resup (talk) 00:09, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

  This may be related: A method to maneuver aeroballistic missiles under counteractions -- Petri Krohn (talk) 00:28, 11 March 2018 (UTC)

• Russia picks MiG-31 fighter as a carrier for cutting-edge hypersonic weapon - TASS, April 6, 2018
• Anatomy of MIM-104 Patriot Destruction + Primer on Kinzhal Hypersonic Missile - Simplicius the Thinker, May 18, 2023

Avangard

Avangard (Avant-garde) is hypersonic gliding cruise bloc of an intercontinental missile.

• Russia’s Avangard strategic systems enter series production - source - TASS, March 3, 2018

Peresvet anti-missile laser

• Russian Engineers Finish Work on Laser Capable of Shooting Down Enemy Satellites - Sputnik, February 25, 2018
• Nuclear-Powered Anti-Missile System? What Russia's Combat Laser May Be Used For - Sputnik, March 3, 2018
• Боевой лазерный комплекс «Пересвет» - Минобороны России, July 19, 2018
• For comparison: US Navy's new drone-killing laser - CNN, July 17, 2017
• Putin calls it the Peresvet combat laser weapon.
• Russia uses new laser weapons in Ukraine, Zelenskyy mocks ‘wonder weapon’ - EURACTIV.com, May 19, 2022

Burevestnik nuclear powered cruise missile

• Cruise missile with a nuclear power plant propulsion
• Крылатая ракета с ядерным двигателем «Буревестник» - Минобороны России, July 19, 2018 (video)
• How Russian Stormbringer Nuclear Cruise Missile Can Help Bankrupt US War Machine - Sputnik, October 6, 2023

Sarmat ICBM

• Sarmat heavy new liquid fuel missile

Reactions

Western reactions

The West sees Putin as "Big Brother"

• Russia's Putin unveils 'invincible' nuclear weapons - BBC, March 1, 2018
• Putin’s Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Is Bigger Than Trump’s - Foreign Policy, March 1, 2018

  There’s no point in competing with Russia’s new trove of bizarre doomsday devices.

• Pentagon: Putin's Alleged New Nukes Don't Threaten US Defenses - Richard Sisk, Military.com, March 1, 2018
• US calls Putin's 'invincible' missile claim 'cheesy' - Nicole Gaouette, CNN, March 1, 2018
• Experts Aghast At Russian Claim Of Nuclear-Powered Missile With Unlimited Range - Geoff Brumfiel, NPR, March 1, 2018
• Russia's Nuclear Weapons Buildup Is Aimed at Beating U.S. Missile Defenses - Dave Majumdar, National Interest, March 1, 2018
• Putin’s message couldn’t be clearer: The West needs to stop provoking a war we don’t want & which no one can win - OffGuardian, March 1, 2018
• Western media accuses Putin of ‘starting new arms race’ after ‘terrifying’ nuclear missile ‘boasts - RT, March 1, 2018
• Putin: "Russia's New Hypersonic Missile Can Rip US Air Defenses Apart" - ZeroHedge, March 2, 2018
• Russian Threat on Two Fronts Meets Strategic Void in the U.S. - The New York Times, March 5, 2018 (mirror)
• Putin: Listen to Russia Now by Willy B - Sic Semper Tyrannis, March 2, 2018
• OpEd: For God’s sake, ‘The Times’ shrieks, do something! The Russians are coming! - James Howard Kunstler, Clusterfuck Nation via OffGuardian, March 5, 2018
• Putin Made His Speech, Now Watch the US Bankrupt Itself in Response - Jonathan Marshall, Russia Insider March 5, 2018
• Russia Deploys Hypersonic Weapon, Potentially Renewing Arms Race - The New York Times, December 27, 2019 (archive)

Russian reactions

• Putin Cancelled World War - RIA Novosti via StalkerZone, March 1, 2018
• Pro-Western and patriotic opposition criticized the announcement, a bit more here

Context

US doomsday weapons

• SLAM - America's Big Stick & Doomsday Weapon - Curious Droid, October 20, 2018 (video)

Missile Defense - Making the World un-MAD

• Making the World a Safer Place - Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance
  • Mission Statement, Board of Directors, Advisory Board
• Ray Puts Anti-Missile Defense in 45-Year Perspective - Ray McGovern, February 15, 2017 (+ comment)

Effect on arms race

• Air Force awards nearly $1 billion contract for a hypersonic cruise missile (prototype) - Defense News, April 18, 2018
• Missile defense engineer takes over Lockheed Martin’s space technology lab -Space News, April 18, 2018

  We now have prototype laser weapons that could be used to defend military bases from unmanned aerial vehicle threats. We demonstrated last year a 30-kilowatt class ATHENA, or Advanced Test High Energy Asset, at the Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The system defeated airborne targets in flight by causing loss of control and structural failure. Lasers also are being developed for the Missile Defense Agency as potential anti-missile weapons to take down enemy ballistic missiles in their boost phase.

Arkhangelsk nuclear accident

• Failed Russian nuclear test hints at Putin's dangerous plans to beat U.S. defenses - Alexander Smith, NBC News, August 13, 2019

Analysis

• Russia Shows Off New Weapons - Tells U.S. To "Come Down To Earth" - Moon of Alabama, March 1, 2018
• Putin’s Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Is Bigger Than Trump’s - Jeffrey Lewis, Foreign Policy, March 1, 2018
• Missile-gate: U.S. Intel Misses Russia’s Big Advances in Nuclear Parity - Gilbert Doctorow, Consortium News, March 2, 2018

  In passing, the new systems also render useless and turn into sitting duck targets the entire US navy, with its aircraft carrier formations.

  It is a national scandal for the country to lose an arms race it was not even aware was occurring. ... In the past such a revelation of a vast security gap with the country’s main geopolitical and military competitor would lead to political recriminations and finger pointing.

• Putin’s Ultimatum is the Next Stage of the War - Tom Luongo, March 2, 2018
• Putin Claims Strategic Parity, Respect - Ray McGovern, Consortium News, March 3, 2018
• The Implications of Russia's New Weapon Systems - Andrei Martyanov, Unz Review, March 5, 2018
• How Washington Provoked—and Perhaps Lost—a New Nuclear-Arms Race - Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation, March 7, 2018 (mirror on RT)
• Putin's Wunderwaffe - Anatoly Karlin, Unz Review, March 7, 2018

  But what if Status-6 is not meant for the rather pedestrian and quite pointless task of blowing up American harbors, which frankly any other arm of the traditional nuclear triad can easily do, but to quietly trail American SSBNs and suddenly launch at them from deep down at 180 km/h come the day?

• Newly Revealed Russian Weapons Systems: Political Implications - The Saker, Unz Review, March 9, 2018
• Putin’s ‘Missile Speech’: Butter, Guns, and Security Discourse - Gordon M. Hahn, March 4, 2018
• Putin’s Missiles: Deterring an American Attack? - Israel Shamir, Unz reviwew, March 11, 2018
• What's The Main Difference Between Russian and American Generals? - Top Russia's Anchor Explains - Vesti via Russia Insight, March 15, 2018 (video)
• Here’s the real reason the US must talk to Russia - Pepe Escobar, Asia Times, July 22, 2018
• Top Russian Officials: Putin's Superweapons Are like Nothing the West Has Ever Seen (Russian TV) - Vesti via Russia Insider, July 25, 2018 (video)
• US Failure to Accept Reality an Existential Threat to Us All - James ONeill, New Eastern Outlook, August 14, 2018
• Naked Emperors, and Empires With Outdated Militaries Don't Get Much Respect - Robert Gore, Russia Insider, September 30, 2018
• Russia’s secret satellite builder - Bart Hendrickx, The Space Review, May 6, 2019
• Putin’s Fancy Weapons? Everything Old Is New Again - Yulia Latynina, The New York Times, July 30, 2019

  Noted: Yulia Latynina is a radio talk show/Echo Moskvy hostess. She talks a lot and repeats, here and elsewhere, what her other pals, sometimes referred to collectively as "demshiza" (of democrat + shizoid) saying; more butthurt on this at lurkmore. But she has neither present-day information nor technical background for proper analysis. It is well -known that those projects started long time ago and encountered some problems. But present day status and level of difficulties yet to overcome is not known, one can only guess. Initial Russian announcement appear to succeed in triggering arms race, and it's on own right significant. --Resup (talk) 08:52, 12 August 2019 (UTC) HO

• The End of U.S. Military Dominance: Unintended Consequences Forge a Multipolar World Order - Federico Pieraccini, Strategic Culture, January 20, 2020
• Why hypersonic weapons change everything - Alex Krainer, March 22, 2023

US response

• Army shows video of March 2020 Common-Hypersonic Glide Body flight test , August 4, 2020