Russia tests new nuclear-capable cruise missile: What do we know about Burevestnik?

A video released by the Kremlin after the testing showed Putin dressed in camouflage fatigues meeting with Russia’s chief of general staff Gen Valery Gerasimov, the Associated Press reported.

Gerasimov briefed Putin on the testing, saying the missile, named Burevestnik, had covered 14,000 kilometres (8700 miles) during its testing on Tuesday this week. The general said that the missile had spent 15 hours in the air, adding “that’s not the limit”, according to Associated Press (AP) news agency.

Putin directed Gerasimov to work on final tests and said that Russia needs to “determine the possible uses” and “begin preparing the infrastructure” needed to deploy these missiles to their armed forces.

What is the Burevestnik? What do we know about it?

• The 9M730 Burevestnik is a ground-launched, low-flying cruise missile which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, and is also nuclear-powered, according to Reuters. The missile’s name translates to “storm petrel”, and NATO refers to it as SSC-X-9 Skyfall.

• The missile’s nuclear propulsion is designed to enable it to fly for longer and farther than the traditional turbojet or turbofan engines, which face limitations on account of the fuel they can carry. The longer time and distance give the missile time to “loiter” for an extended period before it hits a target.

• According to Nuclear Threat Initiative, US-based non-profit security organisation, the missile can stay aloft potentially for days, Reuters reported. In a 2019 report, the organisation said that the missile, in operation, “would carry a nuclear warhead (or warheads), circle the globe at low altitude, avoid missile defenses, and dodge terrain; and drop the warhead(s) at a difficult-to-predict location (or locations).”

• While quoting a Russian military journal in 2021, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said the Burevestnik would have a notional range of up to 20,000 km and can strike targets in the United States from anywhere in Russia. The journal also said that its notional altitude was just 50 to 100 metres, thus making it harder for air-defence radar to detect.

• Putin revealed the missile project first in 2018, and has said that it has an unlimited range and can also evade US missile defences. The Russian President on Sunday said the weapon was unique.

• However, some Western experts cited by Reuters have questioned its strategic value, saying it would be adding no new capabilities to Moscow’s armed forces, and may disgorge radiation along the path it travels. Experts have also said that Burevestnik’s subsonic speed would make it easier to be detected, with the missile being more vulnerable the longer it stays in flight.

• Putin had announced a successful test of the missile in October 2023. In 2024, two researchers from the US claimed to have identified the probably deployment site for the missile, which was alongside a nuclear warhead storage facility named Vologda-20 or Chebsara, 275 miles north of Moscow.

• Experts say the missile would be sent aloft by a small solid-fuel rocket to driver air into the engine, which contains a miniature nuclear reactor. According to the Reuters report, superheated and possibly radioactive air would be blasted out, providing forward thrust.

• According to Western experts, the Burevestnik has been marred by numerous past failures and has a poor test record. US intelligence sources had said that five Russian nuclear specialists were killed in an explosion and release of radiation during an experiment in White Sea. Putin had presented the specialists’ widows with top state awards, and said the weapon they were developing was without equal in the world.