Russia's Latest Weapons That Put World on Edge

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Russia’s nuclear triad has been reinforced with new weapon systems in response to the abundance of geopolitical challenges. They include:

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The Burevestnik, a cruise missile with unlimited range
2
The Poseidon, an underwater unmanned vehicle with a nuclear power unit
3
The Sarmat, a ballistic missile capable of suborbital flight
4
The Oreshnik, the newest Russian missile system with a medium-range ballistic missile

With their unique ability to change the course of history in a single strike, these fearsome weapons—dubbed "weapons of the Apocalypse"—keep the world on edge.

The Burevestnik missile and the unmanned underwater vehicle Poseidon will ensure strategic parity for the entire 21st century, President Vladimir Putin stressed. Russia does not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone and has always remained open to new mutually beneficial contacts with other countries, he highlighted.

Burevestnik: Russia's Latest Global-Range Cruise Missile

The Burevestnik Missile (provisional designation — 9M730, NATO reporting name — SSC-X-9 Skyfall) is a Russian intercontinental-range, nuclear-powered cruise missile, designed to penetrate air and missile defense systems and deliver a nuclear warhead across vast distances.

On October 26, 2025, Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin on the successful test of the "unlimited-range" Burevestnik cruise missile. According to Gerasimov, the test took place on October 21, with the missile’s flight covering 14,000 kilometers in 15 hours.

Burevestnik cruise missile

1. Development and Testing Timeline

The decision to begin work on the Burevestnik was made back in December 2001, after the US withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
President Putin publicly announced the program in his 2018 address to the Federal Assembly, calling it “invulnerable to both existing and prospective missile defense and air defense systems.” At that time, the president also revealed that a successful test launch had already been conducted in late 2017.

The most recent tests of the missile took place on October 21, 2025.

Putin speaks about Burevestnik missile that can 'be used against protected sites anywhere'

Soon after, Norwegian intelligence chief, Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensønes, stated that Russia’s Burevestnik tests had taken place on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago.
The President of the Russian Federation issued a directive to begin laying the groundwork for deploying the missile in the armed forces, and also proposed determining possible ways of its application. Putin noted that a great deal of work remains before the missile can be put into combat service.

2. Burevestnik’s Unique Features

The key feature is the nuclear engine. Unlike conventional cruise missiles that use aviation kerosene, synthetic or solid fuel and have a limited range, The Burevestnik’s engine runs on nuclear power, which provides the missile with:

1
Effectively unlimited range
2
Prolonged flight endurance
3
The ability to alter its course and attack from any direction

Its extended airborne or loitering time and the ability for “long patrolling” enable the missile to enter the enemy’s zone of action from unexpected directions. For example, it can bypass air defense and missile defense systems via polar routes—where surveillance is minimal. This complicates the task for early-warning systems and interceptor guidance. The combination of low-altitude flight, a variable trajectory, and long endurance creates a "fuzzy" contact for surveillance systems, making it exceptionally difficult to track.

3. Tactical and Technical Characteristics

The missile's core specifications remain classified. Some known characteristics include:

Engine type: Nuclear power plant
Warhead: Nuclear
Range: Effectively unlimited
Speed: Subsonic or supersonic (approx. 850–1,300 km/h)
Flight profile: Low-altitude (reportedly 25–100 meters), with the capability to avoid detection zones.

According to Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, these characteristics allow the Burevestnik to be used for "guaranteed precision strikes on heavily protected targets at any distance."

President Putin emphasized that the missile had demonstrated "high accuracy in hitting its target, which it confidently and precisely reaches at a pre-calculated time."

4. Dual-Use Tecnologies for the Arctic and Space

The Burevestnik and Poseidon systems use exclusively Russian-made materials, some of which have potential use in civilian sectors, particularly in the Arctic and for space exploration.

“Their application will allow us to achieve breakthroughs not only in the defense sector, but also in many civilian sectors when implementing a number of priority national projects and programs, including in small-scale nuclear energy, creating power plants for the Arctic zone and the exploration of near and deep space, in addition to providing power for a space transport ship designed to carry heavy cargo, which we are currently working on, as well as for a future station on the Moon,” Putin stated in November 2025.

Poseidon

The Poseidon is an unmanned underwater vehicle equipped with a nuclear-powered reactor and a nuclear warhead on board. Sometimes it is called a “super-torpedo” (GRAU index — 2M39, NATO codename — Kanyon).

Poseidon underwater vehicle

The Poseidon is designed to destroy ports and naval bases, both through its direct destructive capacity and via the tsunami triggered by its explosion. Another potential target in the event of a military conflict is the destruction of enemy aircraft carrier strike groups.

Popular Mechanics, an American magazine, has referred to Russia’s Poseidon vehicles as "apocalypse torpedoes.”

A screenshot from Popular Mechanics

1. Timeline of the Vehicle’s Inception & Its Testing

On March 1, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his address to the Federal Assembly, reported that Russia has developed “unmanned submersible vehicles capable of moving at great depths and intercontinental range, at a speed multiple times greater than that of submarines, advanced torpedoes, and all types of surface ships, even the fastest ones.”

In July of the same year, the Ministry of Defense unveiled the Poseidon vehicle and stated that it is invulnerable to the enemy's countermeasures. At that time, the ministry also indicated that it had successfully tested the Poseidon’s nuclear reactor back in December 2017. On October 28, 2025, Russia also conducted tests of the Poseidon underwater vehicle.

Poseidon 2018 (Ministry of Defense)

2. Submarine Carriers for the Poseidon

The Poseidon vehicles can only operate from specific nuclear-powered submarines designed as their carriers.
In April 2019, the Sevmash shipbuilding complex in Severodvinsk launched the nuclear submarine Belgorod - Project 949. This is an experimental submarine specially modified to carry the Poseidon.
On November 1, 2025, the nuclear submarine Khabarovsk was launched, which is the standard carrier of the Poseidon. This nuclear-powered submarine was specially designed and built for the Poseidon nuclear underwater system.

3. Tactical and Technical Characteristics

On October 29, 2025, the Russian President stated that the system is unmatched anywhere in the world and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Putin noted that for the first time, they had not only successfully launched it from its submarine carrier using a starter engine but also activated its nuclear power plant, which powered the vehicle for a significant duration. The president stated that there are no effective means to intercept it. The vehicle's precise specifications are classified.

According to the Russian leader, these vehicles:

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have low noise
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possess high maneuverability
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are virtually invulnerable to the enemy
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can be equipped with both conventional and nuclear warheads

Some other known characteristics of the Poseidon:

Range: Capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to an unlimited range due to its compact nuclear power plant.
Operating Depth: Capable of operating at extreme depths, limiting detection capabilities. Its maximum diving depth is up to 1,000 meters.
Speed: Its speed is a multiple of all modern surface ships, reaching 60–70 knots (110–130 km/h).
Power Plant: While its volume is one hundred times smaller than the reactors of modern nuclear submarines, it has greater power and a 200-times shorter startup time to reach combat mode (maximum power).
Warhead Yield: Putin stated that the Poseidon's power significantly exceeds even that of Russia's most advanced intercontinental-range missile, the Sarmat. Some reports suggest the warhead's yield could reach 2 megatons.
Maneuverability: The vehicle is capable of active maneuvering while in motion.
Dimensions: According to open-source data, the Poseidon is 20 meters long, 1.8 meters in diameter, and has a mass of 100 tons.

In late October 2025, President Vladimir Putin stated that intercepting the Poseidon is impossible.

On November 4, 2025, President Putin said that the new operational principles of the Poseidon underwater vehicle would serve as the foundation for developing new unmanned systems.

The Poseidon, just like Russia’s global-range cruise missile - the Burevestnik - uses only domestically produced materials. Some of these materials also have potential applications in civilian sectors, including in the Arctic and in space.

Oreshnik

The Oreshnik is Russia’s newest missile system equipped with a medium-range ballistic missile and hypersonic warheads.

“There’s no chance to shoot down these missiles,” declared Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The head of state made this groundbreaking revelation on November 21, 2024, when reporting the strike conducted by the Oreshnik.

Oreshnik

1. Tactical and technical characteristics

Range: 1,000 to 5,500 km (medium-range)
Speed: Mach 10 (approximately 12,380 km/h)
Temperature of the striking blocks: 4,000 °C
Warhead Mass: Approximately 1.5 metric tons
Warhead Types: Capable of carrying conventional, nuclear, or 3–6 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) with a yield of 150 kilotons each.
Total Yield: Up to 900 kilotons (equal to 45 Hiroshimas) in a full MIRV configuration.
Penetration Capability: Can destroy targets buried under 3–4 reinforced concrete floors.

The Oreshnik can only be intercepted during its initial flight phase. Once its warheads approach the target, they are traveling at maximum speed, making interception at the final stage impossible.

The mass use of the new Russian missile is "comparable in power to the use of nuclear weapons," President Vladimir Putin declared on November 28, 2024. He explained that the weapon is designed to strike well-protected, deeply buried targets with striking elements that reach 4,000 degrees Celsius, vaporizing everything in the explosion's epicenter into "fractions, elementary particles, basically turning them into dust."

From its launch site at Kapustin Yar, the Oreshnik missile has the following estimated strike times:

Redzikowo US Missile Defense Base (Poland): 11 minutes
Ramstein Air Base, Germany (USAF Europe HQ): 15 minutes
NATO HQ, Brussels: 17 minutes

2. Use of the missile and principles of employment

President Putin stated that this is a brand-new development, made and engineered in Russia using state-of-the-art technology. He added that a stockpile is already operational and the system is in serial production.

On November 21, 2024, the Russian armed forces unleashed a combined strike using the Oreshnik in a non-nuclear hypersonic configuration against one of Ukraine’s defense sector facilities in Dnepropetrovsk. According to open-source data, this concerns one of the cornerstones of the Ukrainian defense industrial complex — the “Yuzhmash” plant. There, the Kiev regime has sought to implement its own ballistic missile program. All of the missile’s warheads reached their target.

3. Russia’s principles for future use of Oreshnik:

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Right to a retaliatory strike: Russia considers itself entitled to use its weapons against military targets of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against Russian targets.
2
Mirror response: In the event of an escalation in belligerent actions, Russia will respond decisively and symmetrically.
3
Warning to ruling elites: Putin cautioned the ruling elites of Western countries that are plotting to use their military contingents against Russia to think seriously about such actions.

Reasons and objectives for the use of the weapon:

The strike was conducted in response to Ukraine’s use of long-range ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles against Russian territory.
The Oreshnik system is being tested under combat conditions as a direct response to the aggressive actions from NATO countries.
When striking targets in Ukraine with the Oreshnik, Russia will issue advance warnings to civilians, allowing them to evacuate danger zones.

Putin about Oreshnik system (22 Nov. 2024)

5. Oreshnik’s uniqueness

The president said that there is currently no countermeasure to the “Oreshnik” system.

Russia, President Putin noted, possesses several analogous weapons systems, which are likewise undergoing testing. “As we know—as you know—no one else in the world has such a weapon yet.” “Yes, it will appear in other leading nations sooner or later; we are aware of the developments underway there. But that will be tomorrow, or in a year, or in two. We have this system today, and that is what is important,” emphasized the Supreme Commander-in-Chief.

6. Oreshnik in Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in December 2024 asked Vladimir Putin to deploy Russia’s latest weaponry on Belarusian soil, including the Oreshnik system.
On August 8, 2025, Lukashenko announced that preparations for the first Oreshnik launch positions were already underway, with the system scheduled to enter combat duty in December 2025.
On August 1, 2025, President Vladimir Putin announced at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko on Valaam, Karelia, that the first serially-produced Oreshnik complex had been delivered to the troops.
Subsequently, on November 4, 2025, Putin reported that Russia had initiated serial production of the missile system.

Sarmat

The RS-28 Sarmat is a Russian fifth-generation silo-based strategic missile system equipped with a heavy liquid-fueled orbital intercontinental ballistic missile (NATO classification: SS-X-30).

Sarmat ICBM

1. History of Development and Commissioning

Vladimir Putin first announced the Sarmat's development progress in 2018, noting that it would replace the R-36M Voevoda system, which had been in service since the late 1980s.

The Sarmat was named in honor of the Iranian-speaking nomadic peoples who lived from the 4th century BC to the 6th century AD in the steppe zone of Europe, from the Dniester River to the northern Caspian region.

The missile has been under development since the 2000s. The system’s key distinction is that it is entirely Russian-made, representing the domestic industry's first project of this scale.
The first-stage engine was tested in 2016, and flight tests of the ICBM itself began in December 2017.
The missile's first flight test on April 20, 2022, successfully achieved all objectives, with the training warheads striking the designated target area at the Kura test range in Kamchatka.

At that time, Putin stressed that the weapon was not only exceptional and technically superior but was also built entirely with domestic parts, thereby streamlining its serial production.

Putin on Sarmat’s uniqueness

On November 23, 2022, the Makeyev State Rocket Center announced the commencement of the Sarmat's serial production. The Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, a subsidiary of the Roscosmos State Corporation, was designated to master the missile's assembly.
On November 4, 2025, President Vladimir Putin stated that in 2025, systems equipped with the Sarmat missile would be placed on experimental combat duty, and in 2026 on full combat duty.

Putin: systems equipped with Sarmat missile to be on full combat duty in 2026

2. The Weapon’s Uniqueness

Regarding the Sarmat's development, Putin emphasized that such systems are designed to “ensure strategic deterrence” globally. The President noted that the Sarmat could “guarantee the penetration of any missile defense system, both present and future.”

According to a May 2022 statement by Vladimir Degtyar, Director General and Chief Designer of the Makeyev State Rocket Center, the Sarmat cannot be intercepted by any current defense systems available to potential adversaries, meaning it is unstoppable.

It is “the largest combat missile in human history, created by Russian industry,” Degtyar added.
The Sarmat’s flight trajectories can pass through outer space, even via the South Pole.
The missile was designed to carry Avangard hypersonic glide vehicles and can be equipped with several such warheads.
The Sarmat missiles also drew significant attention among Western expert circles. The American military-political journal, The National Interest, repeatedly analyzed the capabilities of new Russian missiles, including in the article “Meet the Sarmat – Russia’s Massive ICBM that Can Hit Nearly Any Place on Earth.”

National Interest's article about Russia's Sarmat

The publication noted that the Sarmat possesses such impressive characteristics that “Dr. Strangelove (the nuclear war-obsessed character from Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr. Strangelove) would be thrilled.” “Its a combination of very high range, possible hypersonic capability, and a variety of nuclear warheads would be perhaps unparalleled,” The National Interest stressed.

3. Tactical and Technical Specifications

The weapon’s detailed technical specifications have not been publicly disclosed. Some known parameters include:

The main component of the Sarmat complex is the heavy ICBM 15A28
Range – 18,000 km
Launch weight – 208.1 tons
Payload weight – about 10 tons
Fuel weight – 178 tons
Length – 35.5 m (equivalent to a 14-story building)
Diameter – 3 m
Warhead – multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) equipped with up to ten nuclear or non-nuclear warheads

As the head of state highlighted, the nuclear triad is “a key guarantee of Russia’s military security and global stability.”

“The armament of the Russian nuclear triad enables us to effectively and reliably ensure strategic deterrence and maintain the global balance of power. It is the result of the enormous, long-term effort of our enterprises, design bureaus, workers and engineers, military and civilian specialists,” said the President.

Putin speaks about Russia's nuclear triad (June, 2023)

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15:21 12.11.2025 (Updated: 15:24 12.11.2025)