Shortly after the unveiling of the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile in 2024, President Vladimir Putin boasted that the medium-range weapon was a state-of-the-art Russian creation, not an upgrade of a Soviet-era system.
In reality, the Oreshnik is reliant on a component based on designs from the 1970s so outdated that the equipment needed to test it are obsolete and cannot be replaced, according to a new report.
Leaked correspondence revealed by researchers at Dallas Analytics shows that the component responsible for directing the missile is based on Soviet-era blueprints that were abandoned after the Cold War. Moreover, because the components were once considered obsolete, it is impossible to test them to detect malfunctions.
The Oreshnik’s in-flight trajectory is controlled by a GU-503 gyroscope, a Soviet-era instrument that tracks how the missile tilts in flight so it can stay on course. At hypersonic speeds, the investigators say that a deviation of just 0.5 degrees from the planned trajectory can cause the missile to miss its target by dozens of kilometers.
How the Oreshnik missile's navigation system works. Generated by ChatGPT 5.5 using information from Dallas Analytics and The Moscow Times.
