From the Daily Express via MSN, August 7:
Vladimir Putin is reportedly gearing up for fresh trials of his 'Flying Chernobyl' missile.
The Burevestnik is allegedly designed to remain airborne for days or potentially weeks while it searches for vulnerabilities in Western defense systems. Initially revealed by the Russian president in 2018, the weapon is thought to have undergone more than a dozen trials - allegedly with minimal achievement.
Heightened recent movements at the Pankovo testing facility on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic - spotlighted by Decker Evelet, a nuclear weapons specialist at the CNA analytical firm - has sparked speculation of an approaching trial. A potential trial is also indicated by the fact that the US deployed a WC-135R radiation surveillance aircraft of the Air Force to Novaya Zemlya, the Moscow Times, an independent Russian news publication reports.
The Burevestnik's most extended flight is thought to have covered merely around 22 miles, staying aloft for approximately two minutes.
In 2019, the Burevestnik - NATO reporting name SSC-X-9 Skyfall - infamously plummeted into the Barents Sea, and a recovery mission resulted in an explosion that claimed seven researchers from the classified nuclear city Sarov, causing radiation in Scandinavia.
Putin labeled them "national heroes" without offering specifics about their deaths. Last year, radioactive Caesium-137 was detected along the Norway-Russia border, sparking unverified concerns about activities at Russia's Pankovo test site for the Burevestnik missile. The data was gathered from filters in Viksjøfjell and Svanhovd, Norway.
The Burevestnik missile is seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a revolutionary 'doomsday' weapon with unlimited range.
The Kremlin views it as a low-flying "stealth" cruise missile that can evade Western air defenses and deliver nuclear warheads anywhere in the world.
Putin has described it as "a radically new type of weaponry" with "unlimited range and unlimited ability to maneuver". According to a report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit arms control organization, Russia conducted 13 known tests between 2017 and 2019, all of which were unsuccessful.
The missile has been nicknamed the "Flying Chernobyl" by former US special presidential envoy for arms control Marshall Billingslea due to fears that its unshielded or partially shielded reactor emits radioactive exhaust, raising environmental and safety concerns.
The Burevestnik was one of several "doomsday" weapons unveiled by Putin in March 2018, including the Poseidon nuclear torpedo, Kinzhal hypersonic missile, Avangard glide vehicle, and the Sarmat - also known as Satan-2 - giant nuclear rocket....
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In Other News: "Russia to test new Satan 2 ballistic missile that could obliterate 'area the size of UK or Texas'"
Apparently Satan 1 wasn't up to the job
And from The National Interest, August 12:
Russia’s Nuclear-Powered Missile Isn’t Called the “Flying Chernobyl” for Nothing
Because the Burevestnik employs a compact nuclear reactor and a ramjet, it can fly at low altitude to skirt radar detection and circuitous paths to bypass air defenses.
Russia’s 9M730 Burevestnik, known in NATO nomenclature as the SSC-X-9 “Skyfall,” represents one of Russia’s most ambitious and controversial advancements in strategic weaponry.
Unveiled by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, this nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile has been billed by the Russians as an “invincible” system capable of evading any missile defense. Designed to count US anti-ballistic missile systems, the Burevestnik draws inspiration from Cold War-era concepts like America’s “Project Pluto,” which explored nuclear-powered ramjet propulsion but was abandoned due to the copious amounts of radiation it left in its wake.
This new Russian Burevestnik missile has unlimited range and the ability to loiter indefinitely. In an era of heightened geopolitical tensions, it embodies Russia’s push to build up asymmetric defenses against the West.The Burevestnik’s Background
When the George W. Bush administration withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002, Moscow began formulating ways to counter what the Russian leadership believed would be an unfair American advantage over Russia. By 2016, Russian designers had created the Burevestnik in an attempt to level the playing field between East and West.The missile’s name—Burevestnik—means “storm petrel,” a type of seabird, in Russian. By 2019, trials of its nuclear power unit were reportedly complete, but the program has been plagued by setbacks until recently. At least 13 tests inside Russia have been conducted, with only two deemed partial successes.
Recent satellite imagery from July 2024 reveals construction of a probable deployment site at Vologda-20, a nuclear warhead storage facility 295 miles north of Moscow. This site features nine horizontal launch pads protected by high beams, signaling Russia’s intent to operationalize the system.
What to Know About the Burevestnik Missile
Because the Burevestnik employs a compact nuclear reactor and a ramjet, it can fly at low altitude to skirt radar detection and circuitous paths to bypass air defenses. Armed with a thermonuclear warhead, it can theoretically loiter for hours or even days, striking from unexpected angles. Estimates suggest this missile has a range exceeding 12,400 miles, far surpassing conventional cruise missiles.Critics have stressed that the Burevestnik has weaknesses. For instance, they argue that its subsonic speed makes the missile susceptible to interception over long flights. These critics also claim that the inertial guidance systems accumulate errors, potentially causing deviations. Perhaps most dangerously, the unshielded nuclear reactor emits detectable heat and radiation, risking environmental contamination—and earning the missile the moniker of “Flying Chernobyl.”....
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The really spooky one is the cobalt bomb, about which Albert Einstein said:
Perhaps loaded on a lingering drone/torpedo:
