A brief note on the Russian Oreshnik Medium Range Missile

What we can learn from proscribed sources. Use with caution.

Certain news sites are blocked in the USA and EU. Because freedom of speech, democracy, et cetera, no doubt. Unlike a totalitarian regime, which by definition "disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and controls the public sphere and the private sphere of society," our elites in the free West know what is best for us. Thus the MSM, the Alphabet agencies, Big Tech, and a horde of fact-checkers and non-profits funded by corporate and private capital all work in harmony to save us from mis-, dis-, and mal-information.

But take a brief walk on the wild side.

The following content below comes from primarily from Sputnik and RT, news sources which many Westerners are protected from (US Department of State, 13 Sep 2024). Related content comes from an English language version of a Russian news and views Telegram channel. You are not yet protected from Telegram – but our elites are hard at work on this.

We will learn both the claimed features of the Russian hypersonic Oreshnik missile, and a possible target list of USA military bases (this list from Sputnik). The West currently has no defense against the Oreshnik missile after it has been launched.

Below, a mix of summary, quotation, and paraphrase from certain proscribed sources.

General Information

Presumed characteristics of the Oreshnik

• Type: Medium-range ballistic missile system with non-nuclear hypersonic capabilities.

• Missile speed: Up to 12,250 km/h (Mach 10, or 2.5–3 kilometers per second).

• Launch range: Up to 5,000 kilometers.

• Warhead power: 150 kt, with three to six warheads per missile.

Estimated flight times

• To the UK: 19 minutes.

• To Belgium: 14 minutes.

• To Germany: 11 minutes.

• To Poland: 8 minutes.

Now, for the fun stuff. As a non-nuclear (for now) weapon, the Oreshnik is being promoted as infrastructure destroyer — and primarily military infrastructure. The Russians, again, were good enough to provide a potential target list.

Base Go Boom-Boom

QUESTION: How Fast Can the Oreshink Missile Hit US [Military] Bases Across the World?

Middle East

Distance and flight time from southern Russia:

• US airbase in Kuwait: 2,100 km, 11 minutes;

• US 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain: 2,500 km, 12 minutes.

• US Air Base in Qatar: 2,650 km, 13 minutes.

• US Air Base in Djibouti: 4,100 km, 20 minutes.

Pacific and Alaska

Distance and flight time from Kamchatka:

• Air Base in Alaska: 2,400 km, 12 minutes.

• US Air Force and Navy Base in Guam: 4,500 km, 22 minutes.

• US Air Force and Navy Bases in Pearl Harbor: 5,100 km, 25 minutes.

Minuteman III missile silos [in the “Lower 48,” USA]

Distance and flight time from Chukotka:

• Minuteman III missile silos in Montana: 4,700 km, 23 minutes;

• Minuteman III missile silos in Minot, North Dakota: 4,900 km, 24 minutes.

For the time being, official Russian sources have only designed military bases in Europe, the Middle East, and the USA as possible targets. Likewise, the Oreshnik is still designated as having a non-nuclear payload. Time will tell.

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Those evil, UNPROVOKED Russians!

So evil Putin, right? Only the USA unilaterally withdrew from the medium-range missile treaty. To quote the Russian take:

Russia developed intermediate-range missiles in response to US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear (INF) Treaty and deployment of the previously banned weapons with a range of between 500 and 5,000 km in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted on November 21 after the launch of Russia's newest Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile.

Right. The Oreshnik is less a provocation than a response, at least as Russia understands it. Your author finds their argument stronger. Wait. There’s more.

Oops. Uncle Sammy Forget to Mention

QUESTION: Where are US medium-range missile installations planned or already located?

Europe

• Deveselu Military Base, Romania. The US Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System, which is potentially capable of firing the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles with a maximum striking range of 2,500 km.

• Redzikowo Military Base, Poland. The US Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System potentially capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles.

• Wiesbaden Multi-Domain Task Force, Germany. Starting from 2026 will be capable of launching:

  • Tomahawk cruise missiles.

  • Raytheon Standard Missile 6 (SM6) missiles with a range of up to 460 km.

  • Lockheed Martin Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW) or Dark Eagle (over 2,770 km).

Asia-Pacific

• Laoag, northern Philippines. The Lockheed Martin Mid-Range Capability (MRC) Typhon missile system capable of launching:

  • SM6 missiles.

  • Tomahawk cruise missiles.

• Japan

  • Japan is due to receive 400 US-made Tomahawk Block 4 and Block 5 cruise missiles with a range of up to 1,600 km between 2025 and 2027. Eight Japanese Aegis destroyers will be armed with Tomahawks.

  • In September 2024, the Pentagon showed interest in deploying the Typhon missile system to Japan, under the pretext of joint military exercises.

• Guam, a US territory. The US Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System potentially capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles.

• Japan &/or Guam – to be determined.

  • In April 2024, the Pentagon announced plans to deploy Typhon land-based launchers for Tomahawks and SM-6s in the region, with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper naming Japan and Guam as potential sites.

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Necessary disclaimers

We have no good idea how many Oreshnik missiles Russia has – likely, right now very few. We also have no good idea how quickly Russia can either produce new medium- and long-range hypersonic missiles, or retrofit current missiles (or at least their payloads). As it now stands, the Oreshnik is described as NOT nuclear capable.

Semantics? Or a polite voluntary constraint designed to not provoke the West into a disastrous-for-all pre-emptive strike?

Once again, Western intelligence services have failed gloriously here, and so our MSM is largely silent as our elites pay catch-up and hammer out their messaging strategy.

Our government can and is protecting you from facts and information concerning medium-range ballistic missiles and American policy and misadventures regarding the same. Please do not understand this as protection from the missiles themselves.

Thank you.