As of: March 27, 2024, 5:37 a.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
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Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has often spoken of Russian “miracle weapons”.
© Mikhail Metzel/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
Twelve meters long, 25,000 kilometers range, nuclear propulsion: the Burewestnik (“Petrel”) cruise missile sounds impressive.
Was that it?
Moscow – The wear and tear in the Ukraine war is high and the quality of Russian tanks is reportedly declining.
At the same time, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin wants an “empire”
– also with the help of Soviet material, you hear.
The question arises as to what actually happened to all of his announced “superweapons”.
For example from the Burewestnik.
“Last successful test completed,” Putin had boasted about the Burevestnik cruise missile, whose name in German is “Sturmvogel”.
But shortly afterwards there were doubts about Putin's “superweapon”.
“The benefit of this weapon system (assuming it works) is approximately zero,” said nuclear weapons expert Pavel Podvig on the online platform X back in October.
The New York Times
suspected
, citing satellite images, that Russia may be preparing Burevestnik tests in the Arctic.
The test area can be seen from the air - but it has not yet been proven that the “petrel” actually took off.
“The benefit of this weapon system (assuming it works) is approximately zero,” said nuclear weapons expert Pavel Podvig on X back in October.
Putin's “superweapon” Burevestnik: “Skyfall” instead of “Petrel”?
Der Standard
is currently taking
up this idea again.
The NATO code name for the Burewestnik is known to be SSC-X-9 “Skyfall”.
So “heaven” and “fall”.
The name “may also come from the fact that the Burevestnik repeatedly fell from the sky unplanned – if it took off at all,” the report says.
There were at least 13 failed flight attempts between 2017 and 2019, the
New York Times
reported , citing the NGO Nuclear Threat Initiative.
According to Standard
, the most promising attempt
was the one when the weapon fell into the sea after two minutes in the air - and fortunately did not trigger a "nuclear incident".
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“Petrel” cruise missiles apparently pose a threat to Russia itself
The USA once planned a similar nuclear-powered weapon with the “Pluto” cruise missile, the
Standard
reminds in this context.
The attempt ended in 1964: it was too dangerous if something went wrong when the projectile landed.
In the worst case scenario, the nuclear reactor would then affect your own country.
And according to the
standard
, this danger also poses the “petrel”.
Finally, there was an incident in 2019 that became a Wikipedia entry under “Njonoksa nuclear accident.”
There was radioactivity released and deaths.
Despite different (and contradictory) explanations from the Russian side, the
Standard
author is certain: It was probably an accident during work on a Burevestnik reactor.
The author considers the Burevestnik to be a “propaganda weapon” of Russia – and lists others that we have already described here as Putin’s supposed “miracle weapons”:
the Avangard glide bomb
the Kinschall hypersonic missile
the Poseidon nuclear torpedo
the Zircon anti-ship missile
the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile
We would like to expand the list to include a few weapons that have recently been touted as a "hope" for Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine: the Russian A-50 reconnaissance aircraft, the 9M723 short-range missile, and certain DIY Armored personnel carrier.
(frs)