Claiming that Russia's Oreshnik is a next-generation weapon that far surpasses anything currently available in the West, a Russian military expert said the West wants the a new intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), which reportedly has hypersonic speed exceeding Mach 10, gone.
Colonel Oleg Ivannikov, a senior advisor at the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, in an interview, pointed out that if used in a conflict, Oreshnik would constitute a much more powerful asymmetric countermeasure, stretching the limits of conventional military doctrine.
Russia has been claiming that defense systems like Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, Aegis Ashore, THAAD, Patriot, or Iron Dome cannot counter Oreshnik, leading to concerns of asymmetric warfare.
ALSO READ: 'Oreshnik missile is unstoppable, undetectable': Another military analyst echoes Putin's claims
Ivannikov claimed that Oreshnik missile is now a direct threat to the West and said, "The groundwork has been laid to accuse Russia of waging asymmetric warfare by deploying the Oreshnik missile system, which could be portrayed as violating international conventions and agreements."
He further said that the West may declare Oreshnik missile system ‘inhumane’ weapon.
There have been reports that said the possibility of Russia deploying Oreshnik, meaning Hazel tree, in warfare would force the West to rethink its military strategy as the missile is reported to have a range enough to reach targets across Europe.
READ MORE: Is Oreshnik the end of missile defence as we know it?
“Traditional military doctrines are built around symmetrical responses...If we are hit with long-range precision strikes, we are within our rights to respond with similar capabilities. However, the Oreshnik is a next-generation weapon that far surpasses anything currently available in the West," bulgarianmilitary.com quoted Ivannikov as saying.
The induction of Oreshnik, equipped with six warheads that can carry submunitions, and capable of employing a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle system, into Russia's arsenal had also raised concerns about a renewed arms race in the West. This is particularly because Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Vladimir Putin’s Security Council had claimed that the missile can inflict "catastrophic" damage on any European targets and added that “bomb shelters will not save you.”
