US expert – Military and Defense – No existing missile defense system can counter Oreshnik

WASHINGTON, November 25. /TASS/. Leading US missile technology expert and retired MIT Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy Theodore Postol told TASS that none of the existing missile defense systems around the world can block Russia’s new medium-range ballistic missile Oreshnik.

Aegis rejected claims that existing missile defense systems, including Aegis Ashore, THAAD, Patriot and Iron Dome, could counter Oreshnik. “No, no, absolutely not,” said the expert, who is a former science adviser to the U.S. Navy chief of staff and has also worked at Stanford University and Argonne National Laboratory. “There is nothing available that can interfere with this system and offer a meaningful defense against it,” Postol emphasized.

‘A highly advanced system’

The expert also strongly rejected suggestions that the Oreshnik system represents Moscow’s previous outdated developments. “I have to say my reaction is that anyone who makes this claim either has no idea what they are talking about or they are just lying. <...> “My guess is that all of these statements were made by political figures who cannot distinguish rockets from each other,” Postol said.

According to him, “this is a very advanced system that uses very advanced technology.” “It’s like comparing one of the first steam-powered automobiles built by humans to a modern, advanced automobile and saying: They’re the same. They’re both automobiles. Yes, that’s true in a sense, but from a technologist’s perspective <...> This is a completely ridiculous comparison,” Postol commented.

Moreover, he argued that the Aegis, THAAD, Patriot, and Iron Dome systems were “fundamentally flawed in their concepts, so they cannot defend against a standard ballistic missile, let alone something as complex as this Oreshnik system.”

In his televised address to the nation on November 21, Putin stated that the US and its NATO allies allowed the use of long-range, high-precision weapons before US and British missiles hit Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk border regions. . According to him, Russia retaliated by launching its latest Oreshnik hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile with a non-nuclear payload at the Ukrainian defense facility Yuzhmash in Dnepropetrovsk. The Russian leader warned that the West’s provocative attitude could lead to major consequences if tensions escalate further.

The Russian leader emphasized that there is currently no system that can counter such weapons. He stated that current global air defense systems and US missile defense systems in Europe cannot block these missiles. He also warned that Moscow would target more missile tests due to threats to Russia’s security.