Russia Unveils Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile, Putin Calls It “Invincible”
Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile named the Burevestnik, Russia’s top general told President Vladimir Putin in remarks released on Sunday.
The missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for about 15 hours, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, told Putin.
Putin has said the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel) – dubbed the SSC-X-9 Skyfall by NATO – is “invincible” to current and future missile defences, with an almost unlimited range and unpredictable flight path.
In his remarks on Sunday, Putin told Gerasimov that the crucial Burevestnik tests have now been completed and that Russia needed to understand how to class the weapon and prepare infrastructure for its deployment.
On Wednesday, Putin oversaw a test of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces on land, sea and air to rehearse their readiness and command structure.
“The so-called modernity of our nuclear deterrent forces is at the highest level,” Putin said, higher than any other nuclear power, adding that the strategic forces “are capable of ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation and the Union State in full.”
It is noteworthy that Russia and the United States together have about 87% of the global inventory of nuclear weapons – enough to destroy the world many times over. Russia has 5,459 nuclear warheads while the United States has 5,177, according to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS).
