Vladimir Putin is feared to be preparing new tests of his jinxed ‘Flying Chernobyl’ missile. The Burevestnik is supposedly capable of flying for days or even weeks on end as it probes weaknesses in Western defences.
First announced by the Russian leader in 2018, the weapon is believed to have been tested more than a dozen times – reportedly with little success. Increased recent activity at the Pankovo test site on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic – highlighted by Decker Evelet, a nuclear weapons expert at the CNA analytical company – has fuelled suspicions of an imminent test. A possible test is also suggested by the fact that the US sent a WC-135R radiation reconnaissance aircraft of the Air Force to Novaya Zemlya, the Moscow Times, an independent Russian news outlet, reports.
The Burevestnik’s longest flight is believed to have lasted only around 22 miles, remaining in the air for around two minutes.
In 2019, the Burevestnik – NATO reporting name SSC-X-9 Skyfall – notoriously crashed into the Barents Sea, and a retrieval operation led to an explosion that killed seven scientists from the closed nuclear city Sarov, triggering radiation in Scandinavia.
Putin dubbed them “national heroes” without providing details regarding their deaths.
Last year, traces of radioactive Caesium-137 were measured along Norway’s border with Russia, leading to unconfirmed concerns over activity at the Pankovo test site for the Burevestnik. The readings were from an analysis of filters from Viksjøfjell and Svanhovd in Norway.
The Burevestnik is viewed by the Russian leader as a game-changing ‘doomsday’ weapon with an unlimited range.
It is seen by the Kremlin as a low-flying “stealth” cruise missile that can’t be intercepted by existing Western air defences and can deliver nuclear warheads anywhere around the globe.
Putin has called it “a radically new type of weaponry” with “unlimited range and unlimited ability to manoeuvre”.
A report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative – a nonprofit arms control group – said Russia had conducted 13 known tests between 2017 and 2019, all of which were unsuccessful.
It has also been dubbed the “Flying Chernobyl” by former US special presidential envoy for arms control Marshall Billingslea, and it’s feared to emit radioactive exhaust due to its unshielded or partially shielded reactor, raising ecological and safety concerns.
The Burevestnik was among a group of “doomsday” weapons unveiled by Vladimir Putin in March 2018, alongside the Poseidon nuclear torpedo, Kinzhal hypersonic missile, Avangard glide vehicle, and the Sarmat – or Satan-2 – giant n nuclear rocket.
The missile is believed to be launched by a solid-fuel rocket motor.
Then a small nuclear reactor activates in flight, which potentially allows it to stay aloft threatening Western countries almost indefinitely.