Despite the fact that conflict has broken out in Ukraine, most Americans do not feel that a nuclear confrontation with Russia poses a real threat. The Cold War idea of “mutually assured destruction” has been hammered into our minds so many times that most people simply assume that neither side will try a nuclear attack.
That was probably true in the 1980s, but times have changed drastically since then. Since the conclusion of the Cold War, the Russians have built several powerful weaponry and anti-missile systems, but most Americans are unaware of their existence.
Let’s take a look at the RS-28 Sarmat first. While the United States continues to rely on hopelessly antiquated Minuteman III missiles that were originally deployed in 1970, Russia has created the world’s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile
The RS-28, also known as the “Satan II,” has been in development since 2014, and was famously touted by Russia’s state-owned media as “capable of wiping out areas of the earth the size of Texas or France.”
The missile has a range of 6,385 miles and carries a warhead with multiple independent reentry vehicles (MIRV) capable of delivering a combined destructive yield of 50 megatons.
In other words, the destructive output of the RS-28 Sarmat is more than 35 times that of the Minuteman III.
The Russians have also created a frightening new series of hypersonic missiles against which we have no defense. In reality, the Russians just published images of the Zircon hypersonic nuclear missile, which has a top speed of 7,000 miles per hour.
Meanwhile, when it comes to creating hypersonic weapons, the United States lags well behind both the Russians and the Chinese.
However, if the Russians were to launch a surprise first strike on the United States, they would very certainly use their “black hole submarines”…
The Project 877–class submarines, often known as the Kilo class in NATO and the West, are the backbone of the Russian Navy’s conventionally powered fleet.
The Improved Kilos, dubbed the “Black Hole” submarine by the US Navy, are extraordinarily silent. The fact that the class has been manufactured almost continually for the past thirty years is a testimonial to their seaworthiness.
No, not the famous Typhoon Class Caterpillar Drive from Tom Clancy’s “Hunt for Red October”…
These “black hole submarines” were built to be as silent as possible, making them perfect for a surprise attack…
The Kilos were built with a lot of silence in mind. The hull is said to be shaped like a drop of water, lowering water resistance significantly over older World War II–era submarine designs.
The propulsion system is mounted on a rubber foundation so that it does not contact the hull, avoiding vibrations from becoming audible from the outside. To deaden noise from the submarine, the ship has a rubbery anechoic coating, which occasionally gives the submarines a blocky appearance seen in pictures.
The air regeneration system can keep the crew supplied with oxygen for up to 260 hours.
These submarines have the capacity to sneak up to our beaches and attack us without our knowledge.
We’d only have a few moments to respond after they launched their rockets.
As terrible as it may sound, many experts are more concerned about the “Poseidon” submarine-launched weapon…
The Status-6 (also known as “Poseidon” or “Kanyon” in NATO) is an underwater drone, unlike the submarine-launched nuclear missiles that both Russia and the United States retain as part of their nuclear triads.
The drone can travel autonomously toward its target after being deployed by a Russian Navy submarine, covering more than 5,400 miles at depths as low as 3,300 feet. The Status-6 merely parks and waits for the command to detonate once it has found its target.
We’d never be able to see the Poseidon approaching.
The Russians might theoretically deploy Poseidon missiles to all of our main coastal cities and detonate them all at the same time.
Take a few moments to consider what it would entail.
According to reports, the Poseidon “can be armed with a 100 megaton weapon,” according to Russian officials…
This submersible drone carries a large nuclear warhead, with some sources stating it has the same nuclear yield as the RS-28 and others claiming it has twice the yield. According to certain Russian officials, the Status-6 might be armed with a 100 megaton nuclear weapon, which would be two times more powerful than the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested.
A bomb of that size would not only demolish and irradiate a large region, but its placement beneath water would cause a radioactive wave that would spread even further inland than the blast itself. The Status-6 is designed to be a doomsday weapon in no uncertain terms.
In the blink of an eye, such a weapon might annihilate New York City. It’s the kind of weapon you design to bring an end to wars, not to win them.
All of these offensive weaponry, however, will be useless if the Russians are unable to defend against our missiles.
Unfortunately for us, Russia has created the world’s most advanced anti-missile defense systems. The S-400 and A-135 are far superior to anything we have, and the S-500, which is far more complex, is presently in service...
The S-500 is designed for intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles, as well as hypersonic cruise missiles and aircraft, for air defense against Airborne Early Warning and Control and for jamming aircraft.
The S-500 would be able to detect and engage up to 10 ballistic hypersonic targets flying at a speed of 5 kilometers per second (3.1 mi/s) to a limit of 7 kilometers per second (4.3 mi/s) at a range of 600 kilometers (370 miles) for anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and 500 kilometers (310 miles) for air defense.
It also has the goal of eliminating hypersonic cruise missiles and other high-speed aerial targets, as well as spacecraft. The altitude of a target engaged can be as high as 180–200 km (110–120 mi).IThe radar has a range of 3,000 kilometers (2,200 miles) and is effective against ballistic missiles with a launch range of 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) (1,300 km for the EPR 0,1 square meter).
Unmanned aerial vehicles, low Earth orbit satellites, space weapons launched from hypersonic aircraft, and hypersonic orbital platforms are among the other targets it has been announced to defend against.
If Russia were to launch a nuclear attack against us, we would definitely be destroyed.
However, most Americans are unaware that Russia now has systems in place that are particularly built to handle whatever we throw at them.
To put it another way, the power balance has shifted. However, the majority of our politicians continue to laugh at the notion that the Russians pose a threat to us.
Consider Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina, ) of the United States. During an appearance on “Sunday Morning Futures,” Graham declared, “Well, it’s not going to be World War III – this is all a bluff. Putin understands that no one wins a nuclear war. A general would strike the United States if he ordered it.”
These guys are not paying attention. This is NOT a sensible assessment of an enemy that has created a missile that can wipe out 7% of the United States in one go.
It is this sort of thinking that is going to get all of us annihilated.
