Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country has successfully tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile and declared that lawmakers could revoke its ratification of a global nuclear test ban.

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/1022137

Video on subject, by Hindustan Times:

Russia’s Shakes West With Next-Gen Nuclear Missile Amid Putin’s Big Nuke Warning | Watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TL1nyk0Kc

“We conducted the last successful test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered global-range cruise missile,” he said without elaborating. His statement was the first announcement of a successful test of the Burevestnik, which translates as “Storm Petrel.” It was first mentioned by Putin in 2018.

Many observers have remained skeptical, arguing such a weapon could be difficult to handle and pose an environmental threat. The U.S. and the Soviet Union worked on nuclear-powered rocket engines during the Cold War, but they eventually shelved the projects, considering them too hazardous.

The Burevestnik reportedly suffered an explosion in August 2019 during tests at a Russian navy range on the White Sea, killing five nuclear engineers and two servicemen and resulting in a brief spike in radioactivity that fueled fears in a nearby city.

Russia has reportedly used the Arctic Novaya Zemlya archipelago where the Soviet Union last tested a nuclear weapon to build facilities for testing the Burevestnik.

In the speech, Putin noted the United States has signed but not ratified the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, while Russia has signed and ratified it. He argued that Russia could “mirror the stand taken by the U.S.”

Putin’s statement comes amid widespread concerns that Russia could move to resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the West from continuing to offer military support to Ukraine after the Kremlin sent troops into the country. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favor of resuming the tests.

One of them, Sergei Karaganov, a top Russian foreign affairs expert who advises Putin’s Security Council, has argued that Moscow should ramp up its nuclear threats to “break the will of the West” or even launch a limited nuclear strike on NATO allies in Europe if the West fails to stop supporting Ukraine.

“There is no situation in which anything would threaten Russian statehood and the existence of the Russian state,” he said. “I think that no person of sober mind and clear memory could have an idea to use nuclear weapons against Russia.”

  • bioemerl@kbin.social
    25·
    1 year ago

    Russia threatens some brand new off the wall nuclear power weapon like this every couple of years, remember the super deadly powerful nuclear torpedo?

    They don’t have shit

    • methodicalaspect@midwest.socialEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      I don’t necessarily think this is brand new. Cold War era thinking was nutty, basically “hey let’s shove a reactor into everything.” We had the SLAM program and Project Pluto in the US during the 50s and 60s, I’m sure the USSR had something similar then too; probably a case of dusting off 60-70 year old plans and seeing if they still carry weight.

        • Madison420@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Super weapons are realistically just weapons not reasonably attainable by most nations. Ie. Nuclear weapons and biologicals.

  • 52fighters@kbin.social
    191·
    1 year ago

    I’ll begin to worry with the mistresses and children of Russian oligarchs all leave their lives of western luxury and return to Russia. Too many Russian elite are living it up in the west for nuclear weapons to be a credible threat.

    • Rose@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Aren’t they the safest? If Russia attacks, the West might strike Russia, not London.

  • droopy4096@lemmy.caEnglish
    5·
    1 year ago

    to memory comes previous anouncement of supersonic missile… which ended up being destroyed over Ukraine with reasonable degree of accuracy. So yeah, same posturing from russia but k owing what we know after (almost) 2 grueling years in Ukraine it’s just that - posturing. They failed to attract talent but they’ve succeeded in scarying or destrying talent. So their only option for technological advance is espionage. Even then they’d need high caliber specialists to replicate whatever has been stolen. What they are really “good at” is brute force and dirty tricks. But any technological superiority is off the table.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Little is known about the Burevestnik, which was code-named Skyfall by NATO, and many Western experts have been skeptical about it, noting that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable.

    When Putin first revealed that Russia was working on the weapon in his 2018 state-of-the-nation address, he claimed it would have an unlimited range, allowing it to circle the globe undetected by missile defense systems.

    The U.S. and the Soviet Union worked on nuclear-powered rocket engines during the Cold War, but they eventually shelved the projects, considering them too hazardous.

    The Burevestnik reportedly suffered an explosion in August 2019 during tests at a Russian navy range on the White Sea, killing five nuclear engineers and two servicemen and resulting in a brief spike in radioactivity that fueled fears in a nearby city.

    Putin’s statement comes amid widespread concerns that Russia could move to resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the West from continuing to offer military support to Ukraine after the Kremlin sent troops into the country.

    One of them, Sergei Karaganov, a top Russian foreign affairs expert who advises Putin’s Security Council, has argued that Moscow should ramp up its nuclear threats to “break the will of the West” or even launch a limited nuclear strike on NATO allies in Europe if the West fails to stop supporting Ukraine.

    The original article contains 650 words, the summary contains 221 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!