RT reported that immediately after Russia successfully carried out an attack with Oreshnik missiles on Ukraine at the end of last year, the demand for shelters among Americans increased fourfold.
Ron Hubbard, CEO of the world's largest shelter manufacturer Atlas Survival Shelters, said he received four orders and many calls requesting reinforcement of shelters within 24 hours of the attack on Ukraine on November 21, 2024.
Atlas Survival Shelters, meanwhile, sells just one shelter per day during normal times. Shelters cost anywhere from $20,000 to millions of dollars to set up. The average customer will spend about $500,000 on a shelter, Hubbard said.
According to market research cited by The Independent, the US market for bomb shelters and bunkers is expected to grow from $137 million last year to $175 million by 2030, with the most common reasons being the growing risk of nuclear or terrorist attacks or social unrest.
In an interview, Mr. Hubbard said that Atlas Survival Shelters are capable of withstanding all disasters from tornadoes, hurricanes, nuclear radiation, pandemics to even volcanic eruptions. However, he still believes that it is very difficult to assess the capabilities of Atlas Survival Shelters products against the power of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile.
Also according to RT, although the destructive power of Oreshnik may have attracted more customers to Mr. Hubbard, this type of missile is unlikely to be used to attack the US mainland, even in the event of a full-scale war.
The Oreshnik is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), with a range of 3,000 km to 5,500 km, so it can only threaten some areas on the West Coast of the United States.
Regarding the destructive power of Oreshnik, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that no Western air defense system can intercept it. In addition, Oreshnik can move 10 times faster than the speed of sound and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
