Military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko discussed the issue, Obozrevatel reports.During a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and military commanders on October 21, Putin was briefed on what Russian officials called "successful tests" of the Burevestnik cruise missile, allegedly equipped with a nuclear propulsion system. According to the report, the weapon traveled over 14,000 km and remained airborne for more than 15 hours. The announcement immediately dominated headlines, though experts note it carries the same dubious credibility as Russia's previously hyped Oreshnik missile system.The Burevestnik first entered public discourse when Putin announced its development during his 2018-2019 address to the Federal Assembly, part of a broader showcase of "unparalleled" deterrent weapons. However, nearly everything Putin touted during that address has either remained unrealized or operates with significant limitations.Take the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, for instance. Despite being officially adopted and announced for serial production in 2022, the Sarmat remains plagued by technical problems. Initial drop tests planned for 2016 were delayed until 2018 due to recurring defects, and testing didn't resume until 2020 after extensive corrections. Most tellingly, in September 2024, one of these supposedly operational missiles exploded in its launch silo, completely destroying the launch pad. The Sarmat remains the most unstable and unreliable missile in Russia's arsenal.Similarly, the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle, originally designed for the Sarmat, had to be retrofitted onto Soviet-era UR-100N missiles from 1985 because the new missile system proved unworkable. Russia plans to deploy just 12 Avangard units between 2019 and 2027—hardly the mass production of a revolutionary weapon.Then there's the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle, the so-called "doomsday weapon" that was supposed to devastate Britain and the U.S. East Coast. Despite countless threats and red lines, nobody has actually seen it in action. The 2019 catastrophe involving the AS-12 Losharik submarine, which was reportedly testing systems related to the Poseidon project, resulted in the vessel's loss and crew deaths—a stark reminder of Russia's technological limitations.Now comes the Burevestnik, and defense experts are skeptical. The missile's reported designation of 9M730 doesn't align with cruise missile nomenclature—that index belongs to ballistic missile families like the Iskander system. Cruise missiles typically fall under different classification systems, similar to the Kh-55/555 and Kh-101 series.More fundamentally, analysts question the weapon's strategic purpose. Why would a cruise missile need nuclear propulsion allowing month-long flight times? Conventional cruise missiles like the Kh-101 already have sufficient range for strategic strikes. A missile circling for days or weeks would leave a massive heat signature—its heating elements reaching thousands of degrees—making it an easy target for supersonic interceptors.Navigation presents another critical problem. How would the Burevestnik orient itself over tens of thousands of miles when Russia's satellite constellation can barely provide adequate navigation coverage for its own territory? Relying on allied satellites—presumably Chinese—would directly implicate Beijing in any conflict where the weapon is deployed.Perhaps most damning, the Burevestnik has failed at least five tests, suggesting it may pose as much danger to Russia itself as to any hypothetical adversary. The weapon appears to be what one analyst called "Schrödinger's missile"—simultaneously existing and not existing, with capabilities that raise more questions than they answer.In functionality, the Burevestnik differs little from existing Kh-101 and Kh-55 cruise missiles. The announcement appears to be another attempt by Putin to intimidate the West—this time following sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil—by dusting off yet another "superweapon" from the drawer of forgotten projects. But when examined closely, there's nothing particularly "stunning" about this latest addition to Russia's arsenal of overhyped military technology.The test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile was conducted on September 21, and it allegedly covered 14,000 km, remaining in the air for about 15 hours.U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to Vladimir Putin's statement about Russia's test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, urging the Russian dictator to focus on ending the war against Ukraine.