The Russian army has completed tests of the new Burevestnik cruise missile, reported to President Putin the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, General Valery Gerasimov. World agencies quoted him as saying that the missile flew 14,000 kilometers and remained in the air for about 15 hours. However, this is not the limit of its capabilities, Gerasimov assured.
“Technical characteristics” of the Burevestnik cruise missile allow its use with “guaranteed accuracy against highly protected targets at any distance”, it was also said at a meeting held by Vladimir Putin with senior military officials at an unnamed command post. At the meeting, Putin, dressed in camouflage uniform, ordered the start of preparation of the infrastructure for the deployment of this weapon in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
According to the TASS news agency, Putin also stated that the Russian nuclear forces are the most modern in the world and fully guarantee the country's security.
Putin: This missile is “invincible”
Russia defines the new type of missile as “invincible” for current and future anti-missile systems due to its almost unlimited range and unpredictable trajectory. “This is a unique weapon that no one else in the world possesses,” Putin said. Russian experts have previously told him that this weapon will probably never be implemented. But the “decisive tests“ have now been successfully completed.
Putin announced the development of the “Burevestnik“ cruise missile back in 2018. At the time, he explained that the weapons could overcome almost all air defense systems. Russia and the United States together have about 87 percent of the world's nuclear weapons stockpile. According to data from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Russia has 5,459 nuclear warheads, and the United States – 5,177, recalls the German public media ARD.
What is known about "Burevestnik"?
According to experts, the rocket's nuclear propulsion is designed so that it can fly farther and longer than conventional engines, which are limited by the amount of fuel they can carry. This would allow "Burevestnik" to "hover" longer before hitting its target.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US-based security non-governmental organization, believes that the missile can bypass anti-missile systems and terrain obstacles, is able to remain in the air for days and carries one or more nuclear warheads with which it can strike one or more difficult-to-predict targets, the organization said in a 2019 report.
According to Western experts, the “Burevestnik“ has had poor test results in the past - with numerous failures. In 2019, at least five Russian nuclear specialists died in an explosion and radiation leak during an experiment in the White Sea. US intelligence sources suggest that this was part of a test of the cruise missile in question.