Satellite photos show launch sites of Putin’s “invincible” nuclear warheads

Satellite images of the likely launch site of a nuclear missile that Vladimir Putin called “invincible” suggest Moscow is making progress in deploying weapons there, an expert on Russia's nuclear forces said. News week.

However, Pavel Podvig said it was too early to judge whether the discovery by US researchers of the location of the new nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed 9M370 Burevestnik cruise missile was evidence of Moscow's increased nuclear weapons capabilities.

“It tells us that the system appears to be close to some sort of operational deployment because it actually looks like an operational site,” Podvig said Newsweek“It's too early to say whether things are actually in use there, but it seems like it's heading in that direction.”

Reuters reported that two U.S. scientists using images from the commercial satellite company Planet Labs discovered a construction site adjacent to a nuclear warhead storage facility called Vologda-20 and Chebsara, about 300 miles north of Moscow.

The Burevestnik, which has the NATO code name SSC-X-9 Skyfall, is a nuclear-powered cruise missile and was one of a series of next-generation weapons unveiled by Putin in March 2018, when he boasted of its almost unlimited range and ability to evade U.S. missile defenses. It is said to have a range of about 24,000 kilometers, compared to the 17,000 kilometers of the Sarmat, Russia's newest intercontinental ballistic missile. [intercontinental ballistic missile].

According to Reuters, satellite images show nine horizontal launch pads under construction, arranged in three groups within high barriers or embankments to protect them from attacks or accidental explosions in the other groups.

The ramparts are connected by roads to what are believed to be buildings used to maintain the missiles and their components, suggesting a large, fixed missile system for Russia, Reuters reported.

Pictures posted on Xformerly Twitter, by Radio Free Europe journalist Mark Krutov, allegedly taken in 2022 and 2023, is said to show the construction of the launch pad. Newsweek has asked the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

Moscow would normally store nuclear charges for land-based missiles far from launch sites, apart from those for its deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles. Stationing the Burevestnik in Vologda would allow it to store nuclear-armed missiles in its bunkers, meaning they could be launched quickly, according to Reuters.

However, Podvig said, “It is not clear whether it would actually significantly enhance Russian capabilities.”

“The system was presented by the Russian president in 2018 as a system that could penetrate or evade missile defense systems, and to some extent that is true, because it will not fly in the vacuum of space, where missile defense systems operate.

“At the same time, it is not the case that conventional intercontinental missiles are significantly less able to penetrate missile defenses,” said Podvig.

“If you imagine the scenario that Russia is attacked, I guess this site will be among the targets, and so I just don't see how this system can significantly increase Russian capabilities in any way.”

The weapon reportedly has a checkered history: Since 2016, only two of 13 tests have been partially successful, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) cited by Reuters. But those reports are several years old, and the Burevestnik's alleged website suggested that the developers were reasonably satisfied with the weapon's other tests, Podvig said.

Experts have also warned that the Burevestnik's nuclear-powered engine could spread radiation along its flight path, posing a risk of contaminating the surrounding region from which it took off. However, Podvig said Russian engineers and scientists may have found a way to solve this problem.

“An important consideration here is that if the idea is that this weapon is used in a retaliatory strike, in a nuclear war, the kind of radioactive dust that could be released into the atmosphere would probably be the least of anyone's concerns,” he added.