The Russian intercontinental cruise missile of global range with a nuclear power plant "Burevestnik" is "a headache for the West because of the unpredictability of its flight path." This opinion was expressed by military expert Brandon J. Weichert in an article for The National Interest.
"Burevestnik", known in NATO as SSC-X-9 "Skyfall", is one of Russia's most ambitious and controversial achievements in the field of strategic weapons. The missile was presented by President Vladimir Putin in 2018.
Weichert emphasized that Moscow calls the missile "invulnerable" because it is capable of overcoming any missile defense. He claims that the creation of "Burevestnik" was "inspired" by the concept of the American nuclear project "Pluto".
We are talking about a program for the development of a nuclear ramjet engine (ramjet) for cruise missiles. However, the United States abandoned it due to the problem with radiation.
Thanks to a compact nuclear reactor and a ramjet engine, Burevestnik can fly at low altitudes and bypass enemy air defense systems.
According to some estimates, the range of the missile is almost 20 thousand km. But, according to critics, Burevestnik has weaknesses.
For example, they say that subsonic speed makes the missile vulnerable to interception during long flights. In addition, inertial guidance systems can accumulate errors, which will lead to deviations. However, the biggest danger lies in the radioactive radiation from the nuclear reactor, which creates a risk of environmental pollution.
Western missile defense systems THAAD or Aegis can intercept ballistic missiles with a predictable flight path. But Burevestnik negates their capabilities, Weichert summarized.
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