According to a report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Burevestnik is a subsonic cruise missile designed for a range of 23,000 kilometers. Although Moscow claims an “unlimited” range, analysts actually claim that the missile could fly for a maximum of one or two days.
For Moscow, the latest test was a success. For NATO, it represents another dangerous sign of escalation. Russia is warning the world about its nuclear capabilities by revealing preliminary results of a new test of the Burevestnik missile. Also known as the Petrel and identified by NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, the Burevestnik is a cruise missile capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, but its propulsion system is what sets it apart from other Russian weapons.
According to Russian engineers, Skyfall is “propelled” by a miniaturized nuclear engine. This would allow it to operate in near-perpetual motion and, above all, reach any part of the world. Moscow has been working on Burevestnik for years. At least 14 tests have been conducted since 2017, as noted in a bulletin from the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
THE DETAILS
According to a report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Burevestnik is a subsonic cruise missile designed for a range of 23,000 kilometers. Although Moscow claims an “unlimited” range, analysts actually claim that the missile could fly for a maximum of one or two days. It will be powered by a compact mini-nuclear power plant that will heat the air in a jet engine.
Analysts at the American research organization have warned for years that a launch vehicle like Burevestnik is extremely dangerous, not only militarily, but also due to the very nature of its propulsion system, as radioactive material could leak during launch or the capsules could be damaged, resulting in radiation leaks.
RUSSIAN STRATEGY
The Burevestnik will be capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads and, after launch, should be able to fly at low altitude, evading most air defense systems, before reaching its target and releasing one or more nuclear warheads. In the past, Vladimir Putin has described the missile as a type of Tomahawk missile with unlimited range.
American experts who have studied the Russian missile claim that the Burevestnik should be considered a second-strike weapon, a type of delivery system that would be used in response to a nuclear attack by another nation.
Currently, to test it, the Russians have used a launch pad with a solid-fuel rocket, with the nuclear engine starting to propel the missile only later. Given that a Tomahawk missile requires 800 kW of power, not much more power is needed to propel a Burevestnik. Following the development of the American nuclear industry, NTI scientists have estimated that the Russians could have miniaturized reactors capable of being installed in commercial aircraft or trucks. According to the NTI report, the Russians may aim to mount the Burevestnik on MiG-31BM fighter jets.
RACE WITH THE WEST
The eternal race for nuclear-powered missiles: The principle of operation of the Burevestnik is not actually new. “It is a unique weapon that no one else in the world has,” Putin, dressed in camouflage uniform at a meeting at a command post with generals overseeing the war in Ukraine, said in a statement released by the Kremlin yesterday. Putin said that some Russian experts had once told him that such a weapon would probably never be possible to produce, but now, he said, its “key testing” has been completed.
On Wednesday, Putin oversaw a test of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces on land, sea and air, which exercises their readiness and command structure. Russia and the United States together possess about 87 percent of the global nuclear weapons inventory — enough to destroy the world many times over. Russia has 5,459 nuclear warheads, while the United States has 5,177, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
