U.S. defense officials have revealed that Russia has introduced nuclear-capable air-to-air missiles into its military arsenal, a move reminiscent of the nuclear strategies employed during the Cold War era. This new development was disclosed by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in its latest global threat report.
The 2025 Worldwide Threat Assessment was presented to lawmakers during a session of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, held on May 15. Leading the briefing was Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, who heads the DIA.
“Russia remains a significant aggressive and enduring threat against the United States and its neighbors,” Kruse stated during his testimony. “Moscow has remained steadfast in its demands for Ukrainian neutrality, authority over the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, and further partitioning the Ukrainian state. Russia will continue its military strategy of attrition, focusing on degrading Ukraine’s ability and will to resist while facing its own significant losses of equipment and personnel.”
FlightGlobal reported that these nuclear air-to-air munitions would likely be fitted onto advanced long-range missiles like the Vympel R-37, commonly mounted on MiG-31 interceptor aircraft. This would mark a return to strategies emphasizing stand-off nuclear deterrence from the air.
Military Watch noted that this shift aligns with Russia’s broader strategic aim to counterbalance NATO’s numerical and technological advantages by leaning more heavily on its nuclear capabilities.
Outfitting R-37 missiles with nuclear warheads could pose a particular threat to stealth aircraft such as the F-35, which have been increasingly stationed around Russia’s borders in Europe, the Arctic, and the Far East by Western forces.
According to Military Watch, the R-37 missile stands out as the fastest air-to-air missile in service, traveling at Mach 6, and ranks second globally in range, following only China’s PL-XX. Designed for agility, it can down smaller aircraft with precision, but when armed with a nuclear payload, it would require less accuracy due to its destructive blast radius and the possibility of an electromagnetic pulse disabling electronics—even on unmanned systems.
Back in the mid-20th century, air-to-air nuclear weapons were introduced to counter mass bomber attacks. Models like the U.S. AIR-2 Genie and AIM-26 Falcon were eventually phased out as more precise, long-range missile technology emerged, FlightGlobal explained.
In the new assessment, the DIA stated: “Russia probably maintains a nuclear stockpile of about 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and up to 2,000 nonstrategic warheads. Russia is expanding its nuclear posture to Belarus by establishing missile and nuclear-capable aircraft capabilities, renovating a nuclear weapons storage site, and training Belarusian crews to handle tactical nuclear weapons.
“Throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has used nuclear-related rhetoric and military exercises to signal its resolve and deter Russia-perceived Western involvement in the conflict. However, Russia is very unlikely to use nuclear weapons in the conflict unless Russian leadership judged it faced an existential threat to the regime.”
{Matzav.com}