Originally Posted by
ORAC
A pointless
PR weapon for the Russian public which does nothing the RS-28 and RSM-56 can’t do.
You are definitely too far from that subject and "compare cold and green". Here, the key point is the manoeuvrable final stage. The current booster itself is pretty old, even ancient. What you mention are new ICBMs, which may or may not be equipped with such a final stage.
Originally Posted by
ORAC
The GBI, Patriot and other missiles have a limited capability against single shot opponents such as North Korea or Iran and are useless against either of the above.
Not really. GBI is a powerful thing and can intercept as many targets as the double number of interceptors deployed. The same with SM-3 (not its current "release" but potential future ones). The issue is that the targets should be ballistic, i.e. their trajectories are predictable. Patriot and THAAD are local area defence systems.
Originally Posted by
ORAC
But whatever persuades Putin to waste money in such directions the better.
It's rather opposite. The adversary will now have to spend zillions to develop new generation of SAMs and install them along the whole perimeter of its territory (and even more inland).
It would be way cheaper to remain within the ABM treaty (and pull China in).