International security

What Putin's Exotic New Nuclear Delivery Methods Are Really About

Each of the five systems demonstrates a form of Russian innovation, presumably spurred by concerns over expanding U.S. missile defense capabilities.

Beyond the Sarmat and the new cruise missile, we saw three other systems. Of those three, we knew about the Status-6 nuclear-powered, thermonuclear payload-bearing autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), because the Trump NPR mentioned it.Some of this innovation also comes in the form of resurrecting old U.S. Cold War-era concepts, like the nuclear-powered cruise missile with intercontinental range. The United States tried that with the so-called Super Low-Altitude Missile, an intercontinental-range cruise missile that was a practical nightmare given that it contained an unshielded nuclear reactor.

The two other systems were the Avangard, a maneuvering hypersonic payload for the Sarmat, to allow it to penetrate U.S. terminal and midcourse missile defenses, and the Kinzhal, an air-launched hypersonic missile, that may be an air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM) derived from the Iskander family. (There was also a new laser weapon showed off.)

Putin’s reasons for unveiling these missiles when he did merit consideration. My co-panelist yesterday, Kori Schake, made the observation that these announcements are coming in the run-up to the Russian presidential elections. Putin wants to demonstrate strength and an ability to “make Russia great again,” so to speak; showing off a bunch of new and fancy nukes accomplishes that.

I think there’s something to that explanation, but we shouldn’t write off long-running Russian concerns about strategic stability (and by long-running I mean since the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002). Clearly these systems weren’t also built overnight as a response to the Trump NPR or even the western sanctions that were put in place after Russia’s invasion of Crimea and campaign in Donbass.