In the video published by the Kremlin about the alleged breakthrough in the development of a completely new weapon, what is most impressive is what is not visible - the weapon itself. But President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov are visible. Both are wearing camouflage uniforms and talking about the test of the "Burevestnik" cruise missile.
What is special about it is that instead of a conventional rocket engine, "Burevestnik" has a nuclear engine. "No one else in the world" has such a weapon, Putin explains. And Gerasimov speaks of an "unlimited range", exceeding the 14,000 kilometers that "Burevestnik" traveled during its 15-hour flight. The cruise missile can carry conventional or nuclear warheads to its target. Russia has been developing the weapon since 2001, and NATO uses the code name "Skyfall" for it.
How likely is it that the new Russian missile will be used?
"The decisive tests have already been completed," Putin announced. Norway's military intelligence service said on Monday that the test was carried out last week from the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in the Barents Sea. "We can confirm that Russia has conducted a new test of the long-range cruise missile "Burevestnik" "on Novaya Zemlya," Vice Admiral Nils Andreas Stensones, head of the Norwegian intelligence service, told Reuters.
But does this really mean that the weapon, first presented in 2018, will soon be put into service? Experts doubt it.
Because this was not the first test of its kind. Of the 14 known tests, only three were successful and 11 failed, Carlo Massala, a professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich, told DW. And Nico Lange of the Munich Security Conference wrote the following in the X platform: "The circus around the tests of the Russian "Burevestnik" missile is primarily aimed at mentioning the word ‚nuclear‘" as often as possible.
"Burevestnik" can carry a nuclear warhead weighing several hundred kilograms, which is many times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. According to independent expert Pavel Podvig, this missile was conceived by the Russians as a "weapon of revenge" - in the case of use against enemy cities, the number of victims could reach hundreds of thousands.
Why did Russia talk about "Burevestnik" right now?
Carlo Massala believes that the Kremlin is now heating up the topic because of NATO's annual "Steadfast Noon" maneuvers, during which 14 NATO countries with about 70 aircraft practiced nuclear defense over the North Sea on Alliance territory. The Russian nuclear forces also conducted a parallel exercise.
The lecturer at the Bundeswehr University sees a second reason: "The announcement of the successful test comes at the very moment when Donald Trump is tightening his grip on sanctions. To remind us again of the nuclear power he possesses is part of Putin's strategy". The US imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies after plans for a meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest initially failed due to Russia's unwillingness to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Trump described the missile tests as inappropriate. "Instead of testing missiles, Russia should end the war that was supposed to end in a week, but has been going on for almost four years," the US president said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the criticism and said Russia would be guided by its own national interests.
Can NATO repel a nuclear missile attack?
Russia claims that the "Burevestnik" is difficult to intercept. Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov spoke of "complex horizontal and vertical maneuvers" with which the missile has proven its ability to evade, and the long range allows the cruise missile to circle the Earth several times, avoiding all defensive positions.
Carlo Massala of the Federal Army University in Munich agrees that the missile apparently "can fly along multiple attack vectors and is controllable to the end, which naturally makes it difficult to intercept". But it is not true that this is a super missile against which nothing can be done. Because it flies slower than the speed of sound. "In this way, it is potentially detectable and can be intercepted", the expert assures. For example, with fighter jets, as Ukraine is currently doing with other Russian missiles.
Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, California, told Reuters that the missile could bypass defenses because of its almost unlimited range. "On the other hand, you could build additional defenses or use aircraft to intercept it. So I don't think the system is invincible, but it's part of the escalating arms race that we're in. They've developed a new system, and now we have to figure out something to take it down," he said.
How does a nuclear engine work and have there ever been one?
The principle of operation of the "Burevestnik" can be compared, somewhat simplified, to a conventional jet engine, such as that used in rockets or airplanes: the air sucked in is heated and, by expanding, creates a forward thrust. In the "Burevestnik", the energy is provided by a nuclear reactor, not by a combustion process. And since it does not need to transport large amounts of fuel, the range is incomparably greater.
The idea of nuclear propulsion for a cruise missile dates back to the 20th century: between 1957 and 1964, the US Army developed an engine with a similar operating principle as part of "Project Pluto". The project was terminated because new developments in the field of jet engines were simply more promising - and did not emit radioactive waste gases.
During the same period, Russia was also working on a nuclear-powered long-range bomber. Ultimately, however, the Tu-119 project was also terminated because engineers were unable to build in sufficient radiation protection that would not be too heavy for the aircraft.
How dangerous is the radiation from the new missile?
In earlier assessments of the "Burevestnik", some experts expressed concerns that the nuclear engine could emit radiation throughout the flight. "I am cautious about the claims that this is a flying Chernobyl", independent expert Pavel Podvig told DW. "If there had been a radioactive leak, it would have been detected."
Nikolai Sokov, a senior research fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (VCDNP), has a similar opinion. "This is a difficult task. Obviously, "Rosatom" "has managed to develop an engine that does not cause serious radioactive radiation during flight," the expert told DW.
A more dangerous scenario is an accident during takeoff or during flight. According to available information, the most serious accident with the "Burevestnik" occurred on August 8, 2019: an explosion occurred at a research site in the White Sea, 1,000 kilometers north of Moscow. Five employees of the Russian nuclear company "Rosatom" died then, and increased radiation was measured at the site. It is not known whether there were any deaths as a result of the radiation.
Author: David El