The Burevestnik missile: what it is and how it works Putin's invincible nuclear weapon against the US
During last Tuesday's test, it travelled 14,000 kilometres and was in the air for about fifteen hours. Its strength, therefore, is its unpredictability
by Lorenzo Pace
'An invincible weapon' - that is how Russian President Vladimir Putin described the Burevestnik missile, successfully tested on 21 October. Seated in a military uniform, he commented on the results after hearing details of the device from Armed Forces Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov.
"A unique product that no one else in the world possesses," he said, a message to the pressure from the West, particularly US President Donald Trump, on the war in Ukraine.
The missile is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and is nuclear-powered. According to Reuters, it would be able to fly very low, less than 100 metres in height, which would 'make it more difficult for air defence radars to detect'.
During the test on Tuesday 21 October, it travelled 14,000 kilometres and was in the air for about fifteen hours. Its strong point, therefore, is its unpredictability. Because it can fly for much longer than other conventional engines and thus, as the Kremlin reiterates, it is able to evade anti-missile defence systems, both today's and those of the future.
The Burevestnik, also known as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, is named after the storm petrel, a bird many consider to be an omen of impending storms. To have successfully tested it, however, is no surprise. The weapon has been in development for years, since Putin's announcement in March 2018.
