Ukraine Is Testing A New Missile That Could Intercept Russia’s Powerful Oreshnik

But the exo-atmospheric interceptor will need a lot more work

Russia used its Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile in Kyiv Oblast. Source: video screenshot by Astra

by DAVID AXE

Ukraine has conducted three tests of “exo-atmospheric kill systems,” some of them launched from very high-flying aircraft, according to The Guardian.

Big if true. The Guardian‘s reporting points to an emerging “exo-atmospheric” air defense capability that would elevate Ukraine into a rarefied class of countries capable of swatting down the biggest and most dangerous enemy missiles while those missiles are streaking through space en route to their targets.

The main threat is obvious. Russia’s Oreshnik missile, like many intermediate-range ballistic missiles and all intercontinental ballistic missiles, climbs above the Kármán Line—the hazy boundary between the atmosphere and the cold vacuum of space. Russia has launched four of the 40-ton missiles at Ukraine since late 2024, the most recent two in May. The Oreshnik scatters six warheads that lack explosives but inflict damage through sheer kinetic energy.

The Oreshnik is the only missile in the Russian inventory against which Ukraine has no active defense. Yes, the Ukrainians can attack the sites that test, build, and launch Oreshniks—and they have done so—but they cannot hit an Oreshnik while it’s in the air ... or in space.

That could change with the development of a Ukrainian exo-atmospheric interceptor. The same interceptor, which should be broadly similar to the American Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system’s Talon interceptor, could also hit lighter missiles such as the Russian Iskander.

Russia could launch as many as 190 Iskanders and similar ballistic missiles at Ukraine every month in the coming months, likely prioritizing energy infrastructure. Ukraine is desperately low on missiles that can swat down Iskanders, including PAC-2s and PAC-3s for its American-made Patriot batteries and Aster 30s for its European-made SAMP/T batteries.

Ukraine has, since this summer, rushed to develop a Patriot-like missile defense system under its pan-European Freyja initiative, with Ukraine providing the missile bodies and Europe providing the ground-based radars and the missiles’ sensitive infrared seekers. More recently, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelensky announced Ukraine would join The Netherlands for the latter’s Bliksem project, which aims to develop a new exo-atmospheric missile defense system for European users.

Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.