FAKE: American missile defense systems cannot intercept “Oreshnik” — Western military experts

An article allegedly from the British Centre of War Studies is being circulated online, quoting British experts — Herbert McMaster, Ben Wallace, Patricia Lewis, Jack Keane — claiming that Western missile defense systems cannot counter the new Russian intercontinental missile “Oreshnik”.

However, this is false. All quotes allegedly attributed to British experts are fabricated. Western military analysts state that modern missile defense systems are capable of intercepting the warheads of this missile.

On November 21, 2024, Russia struck Dnipro with a medium-range intercontinental ballistic missile called “Oreshnik.” Following this, Putin claimed that American missile defense systems allegedly could not intercept this missile.

However, defense and nuclear strategy analyst Fabian Hoffmann at the University of Oslo says Western missile defense systems are capable of intercepting the new Russian missile “Oreshnik.” He stated, “Systems like the Aegis SM-3 or Aegis Ashore, and likely also Arrow 3 and THAAD, can undoubtedly handle threats of this kind.” Test results support this. Meanwhile, Russia has not provided evidence that the “Oreshnik” missile was tested against modern missile defense systems.

We also found no confirmation that the quotes actually belong to the named experts. No reputable source confirms their statements, casting doubt on the reliability of this information. The only source cited is the website of the British Centre of War Studies. There are several centres with that name at various universities — including Dublin, Glasgow, Hull, and Birmingham — but their websites look completely different.

The site is currently blocked but can be found in archives. According to the Wayback Machine, the page was first archived on December 25, 2025. That’s the very day the site was created, likely for the purpose of spreading disinformation.

The fake site also lists the address: “48 Grays Inn Road, WC1X 8LT, London, United Kingdom”, but none of the organizations registered at this address are military research centres. Instead, this address belongs to The Institute For War And Peace Reporting (IWPR), which is more of a charitable organization than a research institute and has its own official website.