According to the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, Russia has expanded its nuclear arsenal by adding nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles, a move reminiscent of strategies employed by the U.S. and Soviet Union during the Cold War era.
The DIA did not provide additional insights during the unveiling of its 2025 Worldwide Threat Assessment at a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations hearing on May 15, presided over by Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse. However, ‘Russia remains a significant aggressive and enduring threat against the United States and its neighbors,’ Kruse declared.
This development follows earlier reports that Moscow has been unwavering in its demands for Ukrainian neutrality and authority over the size of Ukraine’s armed forces, alongside further partitioning of the Ukrainian state. The evidence suggests that Russia will persist with its military strategy of attrition, focusing on degrading Ukraine’s capacity and will to resist, despite considerable losses of equipment and personnel.
The significance becomes clear when we consider that these nuclear-tipped missiles will likely be employed on beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, such as the Vympel R-37, the primary armament of the MiG-31 Interceptor, or some other long-range weapon. This move aligns with Russia’s broader trend of using nuclear assets to counter larger NATO forces, as reported by Military Watch magazine.
A nuclear variant of the R-37 could be particularly effective against stealth aircraft like the F-35, which Western allies have deployed in growing numbers across Russia’s European, Arctic, and Far Eastern borders.
The R-37, known to be the world’s fastest air-to-air missile class and second in range only to the Chinese PL-XX, is maneuverable enough to neutralize small fighter-sized aircraft. Nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles, with their wide blast radius and electromagnetic pulse, could potentially be highly effective against such targets, including drones.
Both sides of this issue present compelling arguments. In the 1950s and 1960s, nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles were seen as an efficient way to destroy waves of enemy bombers. But such weapons were rendered obsolete with improved guidance to beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, according to FlightGlobal.
The DIA assessment states that ‘Russia probably maintains a nuclear stockpile of about 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and up to 2,000 nonstrategic warheads.’ This raises important questions about Russia’s nuclear posture expansion to Belarus by establishing missile and nuclear-capable aircraft capabilities and renovating a nuclear weapons storage site.
Throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has used nuclear-related rhetoric and military exercises to signal its resolve and deter Western involvement. However, it is very unlikely that Russia would use nuclear weapons in the conflict unless the Russian leadership judged that it faced an existential threat to the regime.
