US researchers say Russia is preparing to deploy a nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, which was first announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1, 2018, in his address to the Federal Assembly.
As evidence, analysts from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) cite changes in satellite images of the closed arsenal of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (GUMO) of Russia near the village of Vologda-20. Indeed, one of the storage facilities of the 12th GUMO can be seen from space here, next to which construction work is underway.
This construction was linked abroad with possible preparations for the deployment of a launch base for future strategic cruise missiles with unlimited range. The logic of the researchers here is simple: the missiles are nuclear, they must have nuclear warheads, the subject is secret, and where else to place such missiles, except in the department of the 12th GUMO.
The researchers’ findings have also been picked up by Western media. There is already talk of building a missile launch pad with nuclear power plants in the centre of the European part of Russia. Could this be true?
In theory, this is possible, although, for example, in the Far North, such an infrastructure facility would probably be safer. After all, working with nuclear materials can be very dangerous.
Moreover, there is still no clear information about the completion of the combat system. After the first demonstration on March 1, 2018, the Burevestnik missile received the designation SSC-X-9 Skyfall in the West.
The Russian designation for this missile is also called “9M730”, which is not actually true. Apparently, work on the rocket has been carried out in recent years both at the Novaya Zemlya and Nenoksa test sites near Severodvinsk, and at the Kapustin Yar missile test site. But it seems that the completion of tests and deployment of the Burevestnik is still far away.
We are talking about an aircraft with folding wings, which in its aerodynamic design is similar to other cruise missiles. Starting from a ground-based launcher with a solid-fuel booster, it accelerates to the required speed, at which it is activated by the booster jet engine of a nuclear power plant.
In such an engine, atmospheric air is heated to exhaust temperature by a heat exchanger in a small but powerful nuclear reactor. At least this should be the case in theory: it is clear that no one is publicly reporting the details of the top-secret weapon.
Since the reactor can operate for weeks, such a rocket can stay in the air for a long time. Some sources mention a range of 22,000 km, but most likely the range is not really limited. Accordingly, when used, such missiles can go to the combat duty and standby area and from there they can be directed to the received targets if an order is received. An apocalyptic missile that guarantees inevitable retaliation in the event of an attack on Russia. It is in this capacity that this weapon system is being created.
Missiles of this type could reach any point on the planet from any direction. They could bypass air defense systems and, by providing satellite communications, receive new information about potential obstacles and targets.
Of course, a rocket with a nuclear reactor on board should not fall and break up, but there is probably a special procedure for ending the flight with a safe descent to Earth, for example, using a parachute system in special return areas. The current level of technological development allows achieving a high degree of reliability and safety of such products.
How do they write? “News”, The creation of such a rocket in our country became possible after the success of nuclear physicists in developing compact and powerful nuclear reactors. These discoveries gave rise to several developments: the Burevestnik rocket, the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle and probably other energy-intensive projects.
In the 1950s and 1960s, attempts to create aircraft with nuclear power plants were made in the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time, the opportunity to create a transport aircraft with unlimited airtime, both abroad, was very attractive, and we were investigating the creation of long-range nuclear bombers based on the B-36 and Tu-95.
But by the early 1960s, this work was hampered by both the extremely high cost and the inability to ensure nuclear safety of aircraft. And not only in the event of a flight accident, but also to protect pilots from the effects of a nuclear reactor. The construction of conventional heavy bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles proved noticeably more efficient, and both countries indefinitely postponed their programs to develop nuclear-powered aircraft.
Of course, the deployment of such missile systems in Russia will affect the overall balance of strategic nuclear forces. Creating such a missile with non-nuclear combat equipment is apparently completely ineffective: it will carry a powerful thermonuclear warhead and its main purpose is a retaliatory nuclear strike.
The appearance of the Burevestnik will probably provoke some kind of response from the West: perhaps they will develop detection and air defense systems there, or perhaps they will begin preparing some kind of symmetrical response.
In any case, when the parties begin negotiations on nuclear security and reducing the threat of war, this factor (the latest retaliatory strike systems) can no longer be ignored. It will be a force to be reckoned with and that gives us extra points.
