Are Russian Threats Of New Missiles Aimed At The U.S. Just An Exaggeration?

A MiG-31BM supersonic interceptor equipped with a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic cruise missile.Russian Ministry of Defense/YouTube

Amy Mackinnon, Business Insider/Foreign Policy: Russia's new missiles are aimed at the US, but they may be more bark than bite

* Russia recently singled out potential hypersonic-weapon targets in the US.
* The missiles are concerning because they're not covered by existing treaties and may be able to thwart existing defenses.
* But Russia's boasts about the weapons may be more for domestic consumption.

Normally inured to the fire and brimstone of Russian state TV, international audiences perked up their ears last month when a Sunday evening news show singled out a handful of locations in the United States that could be targets for annihilation by Russia's new hypersonic weapons.

"For now, we're not threatening anyone," said the TV host Dmitry Kiselyov, who some label Russia's chief propagandist. However, Russia worries that the United States, after having withdrawn from an important arms control treaty that regulated missile deployment, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, might again station intermediate-range missiles in Europe. "But if such a deployment takes place, our response will be instant," Kiselyov said.

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WNU Editor: Adding hypersonic nuclear missiles to Russia's nuclear arsenal will not alter the nuclear strategic balance between Russia and the U.S.. This Kremin talk about new weapons is purely for domestic consumption.