Russia Tests Nuclear Missile

[sevenhelmet]

I was a little surprised to see this article this morning- I know we messed around with nuclear missiles in the Cold War era, and they had significant drawbacks- ICBMs won the day. What says the brain trust here- is this posturing, or real threat?

Russia tested new nuclear-powered cruise missile, top general says

Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile named the Burevestnik, Russia's top general told President Vladimir Putin in remarks released on Sunday. The missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for about 15 hours, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of...

ground.news

 

[BigRed389]

I was a little surprised to see this article this morning- I know we messed around with nuclear missiles in the Cold War era, and they had significant drawbacks- ICBMs won the day. What says the brain trust here- is this posturing, or real threat?

Russia tested new nuclear-powered cruise missile, top general says

Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile named the Burevestnik, Russia's top general told President Vladimir Putin in remarks released on Sunday. The missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for about 15 hours, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of...

ground.news

Eh. Real-ish.

It’s still a subsonic cruise missile with a nuke warhead, and those are not that hard to kill, though they can be challenging to detect in the sense they have lower launch signature than a ballistic missile, and fly low. Also usually pretty cheap compared to an ICBM to make in swarms - but a nuke powered missile likely is going to increase the cost of building them.

The main benefit over a regular cruise missile is that it can come in from unexpected directions since the massive range means you have the “fuel” to say, submarine launch from the Atlantic, fly over Central America, and go north, instead of just trying to go through our Atlantic coastal defenses. But that basically is only a problem if we don’t have an airborne (or apparently space now) sensor that covers all borders. Pretty much sounds like a snack for a “Golden Dome” network.

Has the feel of yet another Russian “just because we can” science project.

 

[Griz882]

I was a little surprised to see this article this morning- I know we messed around with nuclear missiles in the Cold War era, and they had significant drawbacks- ICBMs won the day. What says the brain trust here- is this posturing, or real threat?

Russia tested new nuclear-powered cruise missile, top general says

Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile named the Burevestnik, Russia's top general told President Vladimir Putin in remarks released on Sunday. The missile travelled 14,000 km (8,700 miles) and was in the air for about 15 hours, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of...

ground.news

I’d go with 60% posturing and 40% real threat. We all know Russia can produce a cruise missile, but an “unlimited range” version is just bombast. Moreover, I think recent ground truth shows us that Putin is all talk and limited capability. For the most part this is more like rattling your butter knife because your saber is dull.