U.S. Intelligence: Russia Deploying Air-to-Air Nuclear Missiles

Russia is deploying a new guided air-launched missile with a tactical nuclear warhead to ensure the interception of aerial targets at long range.

The information was published in the unclassified version of the Worldwide Threat Assessment 2025 report by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) of the U.S. Department of Defense, according to The War Zone.

The document, presented to the U.S. House of Representatives, mentions the deployment of a new, unnamed air-to-air missile with a nuclear warhead by the Russian Armed Forces.

“Russia is expanding its nuclear forces by adding new capabilities, including nuclear air-to-air missiles and other advanced nuclear systems. Russia likely possesses approximately 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads and up to 2,000 non-strategic warheads,” the report states.

In the same section of the report describing Russia’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities, it also mentions the deployment of nuclear missiles and delivery aircraft in Belarus.

According to the article’s authors, the reference to the new weapon almost certainly points to a specialized version of the R-37M long-range missile – a long-range interceptor developed initially for the MiG-31, which has since been adapted for use by multirole fighters such as the Su-30SM, Su-35S, and Su-57.

The development of the modified R-37M missile, under the codename Izdeliye 610M, was completed only in 2011. However, due to prolonged testing and adaptation, the first serial units did not begin entering combat units until 2018.

The solid-fuel missile, weighing 510 kilograms, is estimated by some sources to be capable of striking targets at a range of up to 200 kilometers. Such performance is achieved only against large and not very maneuverable aerial targets under favorable conditions. Nevertheless, this does not make it any less formidable as a weapon.

Ukrainian pilot Andrii “Juice” Pilshchykov, who died in an aviation accident in 2023, told The War Zone that the R-37M, typically launched from Russian airspace, “limits our ability to carry out missions. If we’re maneuvering, we can’t perform an airstrike or another operation. Air combat remains very difficult and very risky. If you don’t know a missile has been launched, you’re dead.”

Although the integration of a specialized warhead into the R-37M missile has not been confirmed, it is a logical continuation of the development of the Soviet-era R-33 air-to-air missile, which also carried a nuclear warhead and had a range of up to 140 kilometers. That interceptor was designed to engage large groups of aerial targets such as strategic bombers.

The unnamed new missile was the only example of tactical nuclear weapons, also known as non-strategic nuclear weapons, mentioned in the list of Russia’s nuclear arsenal in the report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

The document also briefly outlines Russia’s use of nuclear rhetoric and military exercises in the context of its war against Ukraine. At the same time, it notes that Russia is “very unlikely to use nuclear weapons in this conflict unless the Russian leadership perceives an existential threat to the regime.”