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NUCLEAR-POWERED MISSILES: AN AEROSPACE ENGINEER EXPLAINS HOW THEY
WORK – AND WHAT RUSSIA’S CLAIMED TEST MEANS FOR GLOBAL STRATEGIC
STABILITY  
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Iain Boyd
October 29, 2025
The Conversation
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_ How these weapons function, the advantages they present over
conventional missile systems, and their potential to disrupt global
strategic stability. _

Russia’s earlier tests of the Burevestnik missile include this 2018
launch. Screen capture of Russian Defense Ministry video, Creative
Commons by 4.0

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in a military uniform,
announced on Oct. 26, 2025, that Russia had successfully tested
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a nuclear-powered missile. If true, such a weapon could provide Russia
with a unique military capability that also has broader political
implications.

The missile, called Burevestnik, was reportedly successfully tested
over the Arctic Ocean after years of development and several earlier
initial test flights, one of which resulted in the deaths of five
nuclear scientists
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I am an engineer who studies defense systems
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Here is how these weapons function, the advantages they present over
conventional missile systems, and their potential to disrupt global
strategic stability.

Conventionally powered missiles

Missiles have been used by militaries around the world for centuries
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and come in a broad array of designs that are characterized by their
mission, range and velocity. They are used to damage and destroy a
wide variety of targets, including ground installations such as bases,
command centers and deeply buried infrastructure; ships; aircraft; and
potentially spacecraft. These weapons are operated from the ground by
the army, from the sea by navy ships, and from the air by fighters and
bombers.

Missiles can be tactical, with relatively short ranges of less than
500 miles, or strategic, with long ranges of thousands of miles.
Missiles fall into three general categories: ballistic
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cruise
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hypersonic
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Ballistic missiles are launched on rockets. After the rocket burns
out, the missile flies along a predictable arc that takes it out of
the atmosphere into space and then back into the atmosphere toward its
target.

Cruise missiles have an additional engine that is ignited after the
rocket burns out, allowing the missile to fly programmed routes,
typically at low altitudes. These engines are powered by a mixture of
chemicals or a solid fuel.

Hypersonic missiles fly faster than the speed of sound, but not as
fast as intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs. They are
launched on smaller rockets that keep them within the upper reaches of
the atmosphere. A hypersonic glide vehicle is boosted to high altitude
and then glides to its target, maneuvering along the way. A hypersonic
cruise missile is boosted to hypersonic speed and then uses an
air-breathing engine called a scramjet
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that speed.

How nuclear-powered missiles work

Nuclear-powered missiles are a type of cruise missile. The designs are
typically a form of scramjet. A thermal nuclear system uses fission of
nuclear fuel to add energy to an airstream
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that is then accelerated through a nozzle to generate thrust. In this
way, fission of nuclear material replaces chemical combustion of
traditional cruise missile engines.

[a line drawing diagram with labels]
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The concept for a nuclear-powered scramjet is simple, even if building
one is extremely challenging. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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The energy density – the amount of energy released per unit mass of
fuel – available from nuclear fission is millions of times larger
than that released by chemical propellants. This feature means that a
relatively small amount of fissionable propellant can be used to power
a missile for much longer periods of time than chemical propellants
can.

The United States explored developing a nuclear-powered missile in the
1960s. The effort, Project Pluto
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was abandoned due to the rapid progress made at the same time on
ICBMs, as well as concerns over environmental contamination associated
with nuclear systems.

Advantages of nuclear-powered flight

The key advantage of nuclear-powered missiles is the extra energy,
which allows them to fly farther, longer, faster and lower in the
atmosphere, while executing a wide array of maneuvers. For these
reasons, they pose a significant challenge to the best missile defense
systems.

The Russian military claims that the Burevestnik missile flew 8,700
miles at low altitude over a 15-hour period. For comparison, an
airline flight from San Francisco to Boston covers 2,700 miles in six
hours. While the Burevestnik vehicle is not flying particularly fast
for a missile, it is likely maneuverable, which makes it difficult to
defend against.

Challenges to using nuclear power

The huge amount of energy released by fission has been the key
technical challenge for developing these missiles. The high levels of
energy require materials that can withstand temperatures up to several
thousand degrees Fahrenheit to prevent the missile from destroying
itself.

In terms of safety, nuclear technology has found very limited
application in space due to concerns over radiation contamination if
something goes wrong, such as a failed launch. The same concerns apply
to a nuclear-powered munition.

In addition, such systems may need to remain safe in storage for many
years prior to use. An attack by an enemy on a weapons storage
facility that contains nuclear-powered weapons could lead to a massive
radiation leak.

 

Early development of a nuclear-powered missile by the United States in
the 1950s and ’60s ended after it became clear the idea was
strategically and environmentally challenging.

Russia’s Burevestnik and global stability

The new Russian Burevestnik missile has been under development for
over 20 years
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While few technical details are known, Russian officials claim that it
can maneuver
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to bypass antimissile and air defense systems
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Nuclear weapons were the basis for mutual deterrence
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the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. Both
parties understood that a first strike by one side would be matched by
an equally destructive counterstrike by the other. The fear of total
annihilation maintained a peaceful balance.

Several developments threaten the current balance of power: better
missile defense systems such as the U.S.’s planned Golden Dome
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and advances in highly maneuverable missiles
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Missile defense systems have the potential to block a nuclear strike,
and low-altitude maneuverable missiles have the potential to arrive
without warning.

So, while much of the reaction to Russia’s announcement of its new
nuclear-powered missile has focused on the challenges of defending
against it, the more important concern may be its potential to
completely disrupt global strategic stability.[The Conversation]

Iain Boyd [[link removed]],
Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives and Professor
of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, _University of Colorado Boulder_
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This article is republished from The Conversation
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the original article
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* nuclear weapons
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* Russia
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* nuclear power
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* strategic stability
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* Nuclear war
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