Treacherous satellite image Is this the ramp of Putin's new "invincible" missile?
US analysts claim to have found the construction site for the launch site of Russia's new Burevestnik missile: It would be the first time mankind has deployed nuclear-powered missiles.
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- The Burevestnik aka S kyfall is a nuclear-powered missile that Russia is developing: It would be the first time such weapons have been deployed.
- Vladimir Putin calls the Burevestnik "invincible" because it can fly low for a long time, is agile and can hardly be detected by radar.
- US analysts have probably discovered the construction site for the location of the new nuclear missile.
How do you make a missile with nuclear warheads even more dangerous?
By giving it a nuclear propulsion system that gives it an enormous range, provides it with sufficient energy for all kinds of evasive maneuvers and allows it to fly permanently low, where the radar cannot see the missile.
This is the concept behind the 9M730 Burewestnik , which means petrel in German. NATO calls the monster SSC-X-9 Skyfall, which underlines the Bond villain character of the projectile.
The Burewestnik was developed and tested in Nyonoksa on the White Sea, a tributary of the Arctic Ocean, where there were also fatal mishaps.
But now two US analysts claim to have discovered the launch site of Putin's supposedly "invincible" wonder weapon: It is located in the village of Korshavino, which lies 55 kilometers south of the city of Vologda near the Vologda River in the Vologda oblast. The village is about 475 kilometers north of Moscow.
As reported by Reuters, Decker Eveleth discovered the facility on a satellite image from the private provider Planet Labs. The analyst from the US company CNA identifies nine horizontal launch pads that are under construction in the photo from July 26. They are grouped in three clusters, which are protected by earth walls.
Wonder weapon or "flying Chernobyl"?
The ramparts are connected by road to service buildings where the missiles and their components are likely to be stored, according to Eveleth.
The facility is "for a large stationary missile system, and the only large stationary missile system that [the Russians] are currently developing is Skyfall".
Unsurprisingly, the Kremlin did not wish to comment on the report. The US authorities are not commenting either.
Jeffery Lewis from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, adds that the system is probably located in Volgoda because the nuclear warheads can be safely stored nearby in the bunkers there.
Russia only announced on August 31 that it was changing its own nuclear doctrine due to Western aid for Ukraine. Most recently, in 2020, Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow would launch a nuclear attack if others did so or if conventional weapons threatened the country's existence. "The work is advanced and there is a clear intention to make corrections," threatened Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
"Foreign Policy" emphasizes, however, that the Burevestnik is not as unbeatable in this context as it seems:
The missile is a "flying Chernobyl", mock US officials accordingly. Like loitering munitions, the missile could circle over a target for a long time. However, control via satellites could easily be disrupted.
