Russia arms its aircraft with new nuclear missiles - US intelligence
Photo: Russia is arming aircraft with new R-37M missiles (wikipedia)
Russia is introducing a new tactical nuclear-capable guided missile. It is being installed on MiGs and Su fighters, according to a report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency and The War Zone.
The report notes that Russia is expanding its nuclear forces, adding new capabilities, including air-to-air nuclear missiles and new nuclear systems.
According to US intelligence, Russia maintains about 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and up to 2,000 non-strategic warheads, and is expanding its nuclear forces in Belarus by creating and reconstructing nuclear weapons storage sites and training Belarusian crews to handle tactical nuclear weapons.
However, Russia is "very unlikely to use nuclear weapons in the conflict unless Russian leadership judged it faced an existential threat to the regime," the document says.
According to the authors of The War Zone, the US intelligence report most likely refers to a special version of the R-37M long-range missile. This long-range interceptor missile was developed specifically for the MiG-31, which was adapted for the Su-30SM, Su-35S, and Su-57 multi-role fighters.
R-37M
The development of the modified R-37M missile, codenamed Product 610M, was completed in 2011. The first samples began to enter service in Russia only in 2018 due to lengthy testing and adaptation.
The solid-fuel missile weighs 510 kg. It can hit targets at a distance of up to 200 km. Such performance is achieved only against large and not very maneuverable air objects in favorable conditions, but this does not make the missile a less formidable weapon.
The integration of a special warhead into the R-37M missile has not yet been officially confirmed.
New Russian missile
On November 21, 2024, the Russians used their new Oreshnik missile against Ukraine for the first time. They struck Ukraine's Dnipro.
The Oreshnik is a new Russian medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile. You can learn more about this missile in the RBC-Ukraine article.
The other day, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine warned Ukrainians that Russia was preparing a training and combat launch of the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yars complex. However, this did not happen.
Find out what is known about Yars and the danger of the RS-24 missile.
