West Running Propaganda Campaign Against Oreshnik Because No Defence System Can Stop It

America and its European allies are running a propaganda campaign and spreading rumours about the capabilities of the Oreshnik missile because they don't have an air defence network in their arsenal that has the potential to eliminate it, according to military experts.

The West is attempting to mock Russia, saying that its technology is outdated while claiming that its air defence systems are much more potent, retired Major General Prabdeep Singh Behl told Sputnik India.

"It is kind of a false narrative that the Western nations are trying to create about Russian military platforms. Therefore, Putin is challenging the West to prove his point that Oreshnik cannot be destroyed by Western air defence systems," the Indian Army veteran highlighted.

Certainly, he is stressing the fact that Oreshnik is a lethal weapon and Russia is going to start its serial production, Behl added.

As of today, the Oreshnik flies at a speed of 10 Mach, which is approximately 12,300 kilometers per hour, making it impossible to intercept by anyone in the world. Moreover, it is a MIRV carrying a number of warheads, so the possibility of shooting it down is not there at all, and this is why Putin has challenged the West to a technical duel, he assessed.

Meanwhile, stating that Western nations were running a propaganda campaign against the credibility of the Oreshnik missile as in no way it can be intercepted by Patriot, THAAD missile systems, or any other air defence system deployed by America or its European partners, let alone being shot down by them, retired Group Captain Uttam Kumar Devnath echoed.

"Even if an air defence system like the THAAD launches an anti-aircraft missile to target the Oreshnik, the missile guidance radar would not have adequate time to guide the anti-aircraft missile to take down Oreshnik due to its lightning speed. Practically, it is impossible to neutralise an IRBM of Oreshnik's class. Hence, the US and its allies are doing nothing but spreading rumours about the missile's efficacy," Devnath said in an interview with Sputnik India.

He believes that when President Putin dared the West to deploy their best air defence systems to take on the Oreshnik, he had no doubt that the weapon would come out on top of the American and European military platforms.

Russia has very effective weapon systems and by daring the West to install their high-end air defence systems, the Russian President has put all doubts to rest and has dared the West to challenge Russia's capacity and capability, retired Lieutenant-Colonel J.S. Sodhi underscored in a conversation with Sputnik India.

Notably, the experts' comments came hours after the Russian leader dared the West to install all of their high-end air defence systems, including the Patriot Missile System, in order to experience the efficacy of the Oreshnik, when Western experts raised doubts about the weapon's ability to overcome NATO's air defence networks.

"Let them [Western experts] offer us and let them offer those in the West and the US who pay them for their analysis to conduct some kind of technological experiment, a high-tech duel of the 21st century. Let them identify some target in Kiev to hit, concentrate all their air defence and missile defence forces there, and we will strike there with Oreshnik and see what happens. We are ready for such an experiment," Putin said during his end-of-year press conference in Moscow.

In addition, Putin stated that he does not know whether the US and its allies have correctly understood Russia's changes to its nuclear doctrine, and suggested that the respective question should be directed to them.

Deciphering the message in Putin's response to the nuclear doctrine query, Behl and Sodhi highlighted that the main change in Russia's nuclear doctrine is that any non-nuclear country backed by a nuclear power would also be considered a threat, and an appropriate response could be prepared by the country's armed forces against that threat.

"When the Russian president says that he does not know whether the Western states led by the US have correctly understood his nation's changes to its nuclear doctrine, he is issuing a warning to NATO and its allies," Behl explained.

He pointed out that everyone knows Ukraine is a non-nuclear state and is being backed by nuclear states such as the US, the UK, and France in its fight against Russia. By today's remarks, Putin has made it amply clear that, due to their support for Ukraine, nations like the US, Britain, and France could be considered potential targets, the expert stressed.

"President Putin has sent a clear and crisp message to the West that, need be, Russia will not hesitate to use its nuclear arsenal if it feels that its external security is being threatened," Sodhi concluded.

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