Putin afferma che il test del missile da crociera a propulsione nucleare a lungo raggio è riuscito nel mezzo della crisi diplomatica | CNN

Who cares. Even if this wepaon was as powerful as he claim, he can’t use it. It would expose him to both military retaliation from NATO, including second strike, and economic retaliation from current partner who don’t want the nuclear taboo to fell (e.g. India & China).

Basically, them bragging about their missile is just the usual nuclear saber-rattling that they have been giving us for years.

Well …

– you have a nuclear powered missile claiming to have 14.000 km range (“and much more” according to Gerasimov).

– What is the cost of that cruise missile?

– What are the targeting systems?

– Russia can fit it with a conventional warhead, but due to the nuclear reactor it still may be considered a nuclear attack (especially when the reactor breaks and/or unleashes radioactive poision in any other way), leading to a potential nuclear escalation … which is not the aim of a conventional cruise missile.

– Russia can fit it with a nuclear warhead. NATO states have second-strike capacity, giving the missile the exact same military sense of a nuclear ICBM.

– It is a stealth missile? Because the long the missile flies circles waiting for a command the greater the chances it will be detected. And nuclear powered and potentially nuclear-tipped missiles will probably be high on the list of “things we would like to find with our sensor systems”. The shown missile does not appear to have classic stealth elements, but it is unclear if it is was just a prototype and if a production model will look different.

– Russia already has (or had) ICBMs in silos, on trucks and in submarines together, free fall gravity nukes, nuclear tipped ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. The ranges of course vary greatly, but Europe, China, Africa, the US, basically any region on this planet can be nukes in a few hours tops, depending on where Russian SSBNs are or if it is in range of the silo/truck based ICBMs. The ability to travel around the Earth if you already have weapon to flatten every enemy exists already for the Russian military.

What *exactly* are the new capabilities or attack vectors which would justify a missile measured probably in the higher 7 figure to low 7 figure USD costs? What kind of military strategic goals would it enable which are not yet enabled?

– Delivering conventional warheads in a nuclear package? This will very likely be considered a nuclear attack.

– The esoteric possibility that the cruise missile can drop a conventional bomb and then return home?

– Delivering nuclear warheads in a nuclear package? Already achieved with other weapon systems.

– Delivering a surprise attack? Already achieved with other weapon systems. Plus what remains of a hit will be analysed and there are not exactly many nations with nuclear powered cruisde missiles.

– The opening stages of a nuclear war? Yeah, not sure if that works out compared to the other 6000 nukes.

– The opening stages of a conventional war? With a nuclear powered cruise missile? And without any other military preparation (conventional forces to invade the baltic states for example) or discovery of these kind of preparation?

– Nuclear blackmail? Russia has 6000 warheads, there is no more blackmail than that.

– Deniable nuclear attacks? Unlikely with the amount of work which will be put into the investigation should it go *boom* somewhere, because no nation likes foreign nuclear reactors go woosh inside their own country.

– Penetrate a vast airspace (EU, US etc) from an exotic angel (like starting in Moscow, flying to the northpole, turning a bit Southwest, zipping by Ireland, turning a hard left at Portugal and then hitting Paris from the left side? Russia has 6000 nukes on over a thousand delivery systems (ICBMs etc). Neither the US, nor China and most certainly not Europe have the ability to intercept even a few percentages of that with a surprise attack, and no one even have an idea on how to intercept a full multi-thousand warhead attack. No, not even the yellow piss dome DT is wanking to.

So … another Oreshnik?

SYL

Big deal, British and French (and Europe’s by extension) deterrence doesn’t really rely on either country surviving long.

They can nuke us thrice over instead just twice, changes nothing.

This is more aimed at the US…

How can nuclear power it? Doesn’t it need propellant exhaust to fly?

Can someone explain the physics behind this “nuclear propulsion” of a missile?