Russia Developing Several New Nuclear-powered Cruise Missiles - Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is developing a new generation of nuclear-powered cruise missiles that will be supersonic, building on the Burevestnik system’s technology.

At a ceremony honoring developers of Burevestnik and Poseidon, Putin said the new power units enable launches within seconds, unlike regular nuclear reactors that take hours or days to activate.

“New generations of weapons are already being developed on the basis of such power units. Moreover, work has started on the next generation of nuclear-powered cruise missiles. Their velocity will be thrice as high as the speed of sound, and they will be hypersonic in the future,” he was quoted as saying by Russian media.

Hypersonic speed begins at Mach 4.5, or about 5,400 kilometers per hour, significantly faster than the speed of sound in the atmosphere.

In October, Putin said key tests of Burevestnik were completed, though more work is needed before deployment. He earlier told the Federal Assembly in 2018 that the missile’s compact nuclear reactor gives it an almost unlimited range. The missile is designed to fly low, evade radar, and carry a nuclear warhead.

Burevestnik, meaning “storm petrel,” was the first Russian weapon named by public vote. Its development began after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2001.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the program aims to strengthen defense and deter aggression. The Pentagon has said Burevestnik could strike from “almost any vector due to its extreme range and autonomy.”