In March 2018, as part of his Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, the Russian president Vladimir Putin announced six novel nuclear or dual-use weapons systems, popularly dubbed "super weapons" (Russian: супероружие|superoruzhie).[1] [2]
Putin stated that together the weapons provided Russia with a strategic capability that was impossible for America to intercept, restoring Russia's nuclear deterrence capability in the face of American technological developments following America's withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.[3]
The "super weapons" named were:
The Kh-47M2 Kinzhal missile started test operations in December 2017 and has been deployed since 2018.[4]
On 27 December 2019, TASS reported that the first missile regiment armed with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle officially entered combat duty.[5]
, the 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered missile was still under development. The Nyonoksa radiation accident appears to have been caused by an accident while testing a prototype.[6]
TASS reported that the first contract for producing the RS-28 Sarmat missiles was signed in August 2022.[7]
On 16 January 2023, TASS reported that the first batch of the Poseidon nuclear-powered UUVs had been manufactured.[8]
Of the six systems, only two are known to have been used in action: the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, which has been employed in a non-nuclear capacity during the Russia-Ukraine War, and 3M22 Zircon launched from the Black Sea onto land target.
In 2023, it was claimed that a Kinzhal missile had been shot down by the Ukrainian air defense forces using a MIM-104 Patriot missile defence system.[9] [10] [11] On 10 May 2023, the Ukrainian politician Vitali Klitschko showed fragments of the alleged downed Kinzhal missile for Bild journalists in Kyiv.[12] In contradiction to Ukrainian claims, Russian media reported that the fragments closely resembled the concrete-piercing BETAB-500ShP aerial bomb.[13] [14] On 16 May 2023, Ukraine's air command claimed to have intercepted all six Kinzhal missiles that had been launched during a Russian attack.[15]