Brickmuppet
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Putin announcerd that the Russians are developing a nuclear powered strategic cruise missile. Presumably it would be armed with a nuclear warhead since flying an open cycle reactor over anyone would probably be a nuclear attack anyway.
http://kcur.org/post/experts-aghast-over-russian-claim-nuclear-powered-missile-unlimited-range
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/putin-russia-tested-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-impervious-to-us-defense-shields/2018/03/01/d76fc088-1d54-11e8-98f5-ceecfa8741b6_video.html?utm_term=.dab103b71d25
http://time.com/5180690/putin-russia-nuclear-weapons/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-president-vladimir-putin-unveils-nuclear-weapons-listen/story?id=53435150
The announcement was made as part of the 2 hour State of the Federation Speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDGvrdqQZVY.
The mention of the nuclear cruise missile begins at about 1:29. note that it makes an evasive manuver to avoid detection.....around Cape Horn.
There's also mention of the Kanyon/Status 6 nuclear port buster at 1:32.
The USAF says that this is consistent with recent readings of radio active particles though they don't believe the weapon is operational, and indeed crashed during testing..
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/03/pentagon-confirms-that-russia-is-testing-a-cruise-missile-powered-by-an-unshielded-nuclear-reactor.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-cruise-missile-crashed-testing-us-official/story?id=53440771
There is much breathlessness at the links but I'm curious what those of a more technical bent think. Obviously there's nothing inherently impossible about such a weapon (Pluto was developed decades ago). I wonder if, despite the R&D expenditures these could actually be fairly cost effective from the Russian point of view, since they would involve mainly refinements of existing technology and only a few dozen might need to be procured to have a deterrent effect.
Anyway, any thoughts on this?
http://kcur.org/post/experts-aghast-over-russian-claim-nuclear-powered-missile-unlimited-range
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/world/putin-russia-tested-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-impervious-to-us-defense-shields/2018/03/01/d76fc088-1d54-11e8-98f5-ceecfa8741b6_video.html?utm_term=.dab103b71d25
http://time.com/5180690/putin-russia-nuclear-weapons/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russian-president-vladimir-putin-unveils-nuclear-weapons-listen/story?id=53435150
The announcement was made as part of the 2 hour State of the Federation Speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDGvrdqQZVY.
The mention of the nuclear cruise missile begins at about 1:29. note that it makes an evasive manuver to avoid detection.....around Cape Horn.
There's also mention of the Kanyon/Status 6 nuclear port buster at 1:32.
The USAF says that this is consistent with recent readings of radio active particles though they don't believe the weapon is operational, and indeed crashed during testing..
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/03/pentagon-confirms-that-russia-is-testing-a-cruise-missile-powered-by-an-unshielded-nuclear-reactor.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/russias-cruise-missile-crashed-testing-us-official/story?id=53440771
There is much breathlessness at the links but I'm curious what those of a more technical bent think. Obviously there's nothing inherently impossible about such a weapon (Pluto was developed decades ago). I wonder if, despite the R&D expenditures these could actually be fairly cost effective from the Russian point of view, since they would involve mainly refinements of existing technology and only a few dozen might need to be procured to have a deterrent effect.
Anyway, any thoughts on this?