However, German military officials are increasingly warning against overestimating the importance of this issue. Although drones are important on the battlefield due to their relatively low production costs, high availability and increasing range, strategically they play only a subordinate role. A secret NATO document shows that the real threat to the West lurks elsewhere: in the modernization of Russia's nuclear weapons, which Putin is pushing.
The document comes from the alliance's intelligence department. Experts analyze the latest arsenal of so-called weapons. Russia's strategic nuclear forces. One of the topics is the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile [Burza] codenamed NATO SSC-X-9 Skyfall.
Russia started working on this project over 10 years ago. According to Western intelligence services, tests conducted in 2018 and 2019 initially yielded modest results. However, three weeks ago, President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech that work on the project had been completed. During the tests, Burevestnik covered the distance 14 thousand km.
Two to three years
According to a NATO document, the cruise missile reaches a speed of over 900 km per hour. It is very maneuverable, has a long range and can be fired from mobile systems. It can fly long circular routes, for example over the North Pole, thus bypassing NATO air defense systems.
Experts warn that the cruise missile will be ready for use in two to three years. From NATO's point of view, as stated in the document, “existing challenges (…) will be exacerbated by extreme range and maneuverability” cruise missile. In other words: NATO has a problem with new weapons.
NATO experts also deal with the new Russian SS-X-28 Oreshnik medium-range mobile missile [Leszczyna]. It was first tested a year ago in Ukraine, and the technical details are not yet well known. However, what worries Western experts is the range of up to 5.5 thousand. km and the possibility of equipping the warhead with various types of ammunition (including nuclear). “Ability to attack targets across Europe and the mobility of the ejection device ensure high survivability. The uncertainty over warheads poses a defense challenge for NATO,” the document reads.
NATO deficiencies
According to the document, the Poseidon-class submarines, which are to be ready for use by 2030, are also a problem for NATO. According to the document, they have an extreme range and were probably designed to “destroy naval bases, ports and coastal cities in the Pacific, the east coast of the United States, Great Britain and France.”
They are “difficult to detect and attack when in deep waters.” The document contains an alarming warning: NATO does not have “anti-submarine torpedoes with the necessary speed and range” to combat Poseidon-class submarines.
The document clearly shows that NATO has shortcomings primarily in the medium and long range, especially in the case of nuclear weapons. Although it undoubtedly has a much greater deterrent effect than drones in the power relations between Russia and the West, the topic of nuclear defense and even deterrence on German territory plays a much smaller role in political debates than drones. NATO's intelligence department's supposedly reassuring assessment of Putin's propaganda doesn't help either: “Claims that weapons are ready for use do not mean they are military-grade or reliable.”
