Sputnik International

Ballistic vs. cruise missiles: what’s the difference?

Russia’s Oreshnik missile test drew attention and confusion as observers compared it to other ballistic and cruise missiles in Russian and NATO arsenals. What’s the key differences between the two missile types?

Ballistic missiles:

🔸 Powered by single or multi-stage rockets, ballistic missiles ascend tens of kilometers into the atmosphere, shedding components along the way before their payload separates and arcs back to Earth.

🔸 Ballistic missiles have three phases: the boost phase (rocket firing), the midcourse phase (payload coasting and ascending), and the terminal phase (descent toward the target).

🔸 Some missiles include a fourth, post-boost phase, during which MIRV buses adjust trajectory and release decoys to confuse enemy missile defenses.

🔸 Certain missiles can alter their trajectory while they have the fuel to do so, but maneuverability usually comes from their payloads. For example, Russia’s Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle separates from its ICBM carrier and becomes maneuverable, while MIRV buses use small motors and inertial guidance for adjustments.

Cruise missiles:

🔸 Powered by jet engines, cruise missiles remain within the atmosphere through their flight, often flying at extremely low altitudes to evade detection.

🔸 Designed for precision strikes, they can target ground and sea-based assets, from individual buildings or bunkers to larger areas or carrier groups if equipped with nuclear warheads.

🔸 Cruise missiles are maneuverable throughout flight, using GPS, inertial guidance, terrain mapping, or manual control in the terminal phase.

Pros and cons of ballistic and cruise missiles:

🔸 Cruise missiles are cheaper (about 15% the cost of a typical tactical ballistic missile), harder to detect during launch, and more accurate. However, unless nuclear-armed, their firepower is lower, with payloads averaging around 500 kg (the largest, the US AGM-86 ALCM, can carry up to 1,362 kg).

🔸 Ballistic missiles are less accurate (CEP in the tens or hundreds of meters vs. meters for cruise missiles) but offer larger payloads, such as Russia’s RS-28 Sarmat, which has a 10,000 kg capacity.

🔸 Ballistic missiles' arcing trajectory allows hypersonic speeds, making them harder to intercept and increasing their kinetic impact. Cruise missiles, by contrast, are typically subsonic or supersonic, making interception easier and reducing kinetic power.

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How many more troops can Ukraine conscript?

Ukraine could conscript almost four million more men to fight the West's proxy conflict with Russia.

According to data from the Ukrainian parliamentary Committee on Economic Development published by the Financial Times, the total number of male Ukrainian citizens aged 25 to 60 is 11.1 million, of whom 1.2 million are already serving in the armed forces.

Another 2.9 million men live in regions liberated by Russia since the start of its military operation in February 2022.

1.3 million men have left Ukraine, 1.5 million are disabled and unfit for military service and 600,000 are exempt from military conscription as critical workers.

That leaves 3.7 million men who can be mobilized. Of those, 2.8 million are self-employed and registered taxpayers, while 900,000 are not registered in the system, the article says.

The report quoted military officers, analysts and soldiers who said the conflict will reach a critical juncture in the next few months, as the armed forces try to stabilize the situation and halt Russian advances on several fronts.

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💸Bitcoin nears $100k: Exploring its market value and growing dominance

As the Bitcoin price topped $99,000 on November 22, setting a new all-time high, we look at how many bitcoins exist, their share in the global currency supply and what drives up their value.

🪙At $99k per coin, Bitcoin's market cap is approaching $2 trillion – a significant figure but still a small portion of the estimated global currency supply of over $150 trillion. This total includes fiat currencies – like dollars, euros and yen – central bank reserves, and near-money assets like savings deposits and money market funds.

🪙Bitcoin’s share remains small but growing, driven by its use as a store of value and a hedge against inflation.

🪙Its price is influenced by factors like supply and demand, market trends, adoption rates, macroeconomic conditions and regulatory changes. Limited supply and rising demand drive it higher.

🪙Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency has a 56% market share among the top ten cryptocurrencies.

Where is Bitcoin heading?

🪙Prices on Coinbase, the largest US crypto exchange, are outstripping the Tether (USDT) stablecoin pair on exchanges Binance and Bybit.

🪙Bitcoin has more than doubled in value from this year’s low of $38,505. It soared by about 45% after Donald Trump's election victory on Nov. 5.

🪙Investors foresee favorable crypto regulation under Trump, as he pledged to make the US the "crypto capital of the planet" and build a “national bitcoin stockpile.”

🪙The crypto got a boost after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in January, allowing trading on traditional market exchanges rather than cryptocurrency exchanges.

🪙Over $4 billion has flooded into US-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds since the election.

🪙Reports that Trump Media is in talks to buy crypto trading firm Bakkt also fueled the surge.

🪙The US government is one of the world’s biggest holders of bitcoin, with reportedly over 210,000 units worth around $14 billion seized by fraud officers.

What is Bitcoin, and how much of it exists?

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency created in 2009 by the shadowy figure known as ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’. It is traded peer-to-peer, enabling payments without banks. ‘Miners’ use powerful computers earn bitcoins by processing the crypto’s ‘blockchain’ accounting.

🪙There are now around 19.8 million bitcoins in circulation.

🪙The US holds the most bitcoins, driven by institutional adoption and mining. Other key holders include China and Germany.

🪙The total supply of bitcoin was permanently capped at 21 million BTC by its creator.

🪙Once Bitcoin reaches its supply limit, no new coins will be issued. Miners will earn transaction fees instead.

🪙Bitcoin is expected to reach that limit around the year 2140.

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🇷🇺 Russia tests new Oreshnik ballistic missile in combat

Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces grabbed the attention of military observers the world over on Thursday after firing the Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile at a major defense-related enterprise in Dnepropetrovsk, days after the US and the UK okayed the launch of ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles at targets deep inside Russia.

The Oreshnik’s unveiling also comes five years after Washington’s moved unilaterally to scrap the Russia-US Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which prohibited the development and deployment of ground-based missiles in the 500-5,500 km range. The US, for its part, has yet to field a new missile in this range.

What do we know about the new Russian missile’s range characteristics? How fast does it fly? What’s its payload?

👉 Check out Sputnik’s infographic for more info.

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💬 Italy's ban on strikes against Russia ‘means nothing,’ as it depends on NATO – Italian journalist

The ban on using Italian-supplied weapons by Kiev to strike Russia is mere noise, since Rome can still provide all the support NATO may request, Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi told Sputnik.

“In any case, these long-range weapons are supplied by the US and the UK. They are the American ATACMS and the British Storm Shadow. Therefore, the statement of the Italian foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, is nothing. It means nothing. If there is a need in planes or bases to calculate the distance [for strikes on Russia], Italy cannot fail to provide it. Italy is fully integrated in NATO,” he said.

Statements by the Italian authorities that Ukraine cannot use Italian-supplied weapons against Russia are “a farce that continues to play only for the electorate.”

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces launched ATACMS missiles at Russia’s Bryansk region during the night of November 19. Five missiles were intercepted by Pantsir and S-400 systems, while one was damaged.

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💬 US and UK are waging war against EU with anti-Russian sanctions – Italian journalist

The sanctions that Washington is pressuring European countries to impose against Russia are actually hurting the European Union (EU) more, Italian journalist Giorgio Bianchi told Sputnik.

“I have the impression that this is a US war not only against Russia, but also against Italy, Germany, and France. Because the sanctions that the US has forced our countries to apply, I call them auto-sanctions, these sanctions are directed more against us than against Russia,” he pointed out.

Bianchi believes that the US and UK have actually benefited far more from these sanctions than from the bombing of Europe’s industrial districts during World War II.

“Large companies will simply move out of [EU] countries. Some of them have already moved to Asia, and now they will move to America because of more favorable business conditions,” the journalist added.

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📹 Montreal 'welcomes' NATO summit

Pro-Palestinian, anti-NATO demonstrators smashed windows, clashed with police, burned vehicles, and even set fire to an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The demonstration coincided with the arrival of some 300 representatives of the bloc's member and partner countries for a summit in Montreal, Canada, from November 22 to 25.

Footage from social media

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🔸 Here’s why Russia’s Oreshnik hypersonic missile is ready for mass production

🔸 Conflict in Ukraine could end if NATO stops fueling the war – Russian Security Council

🔸 Italian journalist was labeled ‘Putin's spy’ for telling the truth about Ukraine

🔸 American patriot & relentless truth-seeker: Sputnik pundit Scott Bennett passes away

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💬 Media called me head of ‘Putin's network in Italy’ for telling the truth about Ukraine – Italian journalist

Giorgio Bianchi was deprived of the opportunity to speak publicly about the Ukraine conflict and called a Russian spy for trying to inform Italians about the real reasons for what is happening in Ukraine after the start of the special military operation, the journalist told Sputnik.

The reporter has been covering events in Ukraine since the Euromaidan in 2014, and has appeared several times as an expert in the Italian media. After the start of the special military operation, he went to Donbass for almost two months, where he witnessed the liberation of Mariupol and Volnovakha firsthand.

“From that moment on, I could no longer hold conferences in schools and universities. Italy's most popular newspaper Corriere della Sera printed me on the front page, claiming that I was the head of 'Putin's network in Italy,'” he shared, adding that the case against him was sent to Italy's then-head of government Mario Draghi.

Bianchi emphasized that he continued to tell the truth, explaining that the Minsk agreements were subversively used to arm Ukraine and that neo-Nazi ideas were actually observed in the country, as the journalist himself saw neo-Nazi symbols and literature when he was in Mariupol.

However, all the newspapers that had been talking about it for years suddenly “changed their minds overnight,” and began to claim there was no such ideology in Ukraine, the journalist stressed.

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Medvedev doubts Trump will lift sanctions against Russia

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev expressed skepticism that US President-elect Donald Trump would lift sanctions against Russia after assuming office.

"I believe it is unlikely that the president-elect, having taken office, will immediately lift these sanctions. Especially since, at one time, he actually insisted on a number of sanctions, trying to limit our gas supplies to Europe," Medvedev said in an interview with the Al Arabiya TV channel.

Medvedev also recalled Trump’s remarks about the importance of supplying Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US.

"Which is what is happening now. And there is no Russian gas in Europe. That is why Europeans are freezing, and their industries are shutting down. In a certain sense, ending sanctions is not in the interest of several sectors of the American economy. What considerations he [Trump] will be guided by, I do not know. But this really needs to be done simply to restore normal economic cooperation," Medvedev emphasized.

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