Le missile invincible à la plus longue portée du monde Burevestnik dans l’escalade nucléaire

The world’s longest-range invincible missile Burevestnik in nuclear escalation

Russia: Being able to circle the world twice before striking

The Russian armed forces carried out, at the end of October 2025, a test firing of the longest-range cruise missile ever developed in the country, the 9M730 Burevestnik cruise missile, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov quoted by the Russian official media affirmed that this happened on October 21 and that the missile covered a distance of 14,000 kilometers in 15 hours.

“The technical characteristics of the missile allow it to strike highly protected targets anywhere in the world with guaranteed precision,” he said. The unique missile uses a miniaturized nuclear reactor to power its propulsion system, allowing it to remain airborne for years. This has multiple benefits, including avoiding the risk of being neutralized on the ground in an adversary’s first strike, providing options for sending shows of force by flying close to enemy airspace, and retaining the ability to strike adversaries from unexpected directions, including where air defense coverage is weakest. Investment in the development of the Burevestnik, which is expected to be nuclear-armed, reflects the priority given by the Russian Defense Ministry to financing strategic nuclear delivery programs.
Commenting on the Oct. 21 test, Russian President Vladimir Putin called it proof of the reliability of Russia’s nuclear shield and the missile as a unique weapon system that no other country possesses. “The task now is to determine possible deployment paths and begin to prepare the infrastructure for the introduction of this weapon into our armed forces,” he added. Speaking to the Russian parliament, the president previously characterized the missile as having unlimited range and being invincible against all existing and future missile defense and air defense systems. Due to delays in Russia’s PAK/DA intercontinental-range strategic bomber program, the Burevestnik’s ability to launch precise nuclear attacks against targets across the world, including the continental United States. On October 10, President Putin announced that significant progress had been made in the development of a new class of strategic nuclear weapons. “I think we will have the opportunity in the near future to announce news about a new weapon that we announced a long time ago,” he said, adding that it “is undergoing tests which are proceeding successfully.” This fueled speculation. Along with the missile and bomber program, Russia is rapidly modernizing its strategic submarine fleet, fielding nuclear-tipped Poseidon torpedoes, and upgrading its intercontinental-range ballistic missile arsenal with new missiles such as the RS-28 Sarmat and RS-24 Yars, and integrating Avangard hypersonic glider vehicles onto older missiles, it is reported. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced significant progress in testing a new class of strategic nuclear weapons in October 2025. “I think we will soon have the opportunity to announce a new weapon that was announced a long time ago, it is currently undergoing tests which are being carried out successfully,” he told Russian media. He also highlighted the existence of a certain arms race in the world, warning that a number of countries were carrying out nuclear tests to ensure the capacity of their arsenals. Putin made it clear that Russia would resume nuclear testing if other countries did so. The president also highlighted Russia’s security thanks to the novelty of its nuclear deterrent and its constant improvements, saying that the level of sophistication of its nuclear arsenal is unmatched in the world.
Despite the decline of many components of Russia’s conventional forces, the concentration of efforts on its nuclear capabilities has allowed the country’s arsenal to be the most efficient in the world. Russia’s intercontinental ballistic missile arsenal, in particular, is almost entirely composed of modern post-Soviet systems, many of which have particularly impressive capabilities, such as carrying Avangard hypersonic glider vehicles to avoid interception. This stands in stark contrast to the US arsenal, which consists entirely of Minuteman III missiles from the 1970s, by far the oldest ICBMs in service in the world today. The rankings of the Russian and U.S. strategic submarine fleets are broadly comparable, while the United States is believed to maintain an advantage in airborne nuclear capabilities through its deployment of F-35 stealth fighters and B-2 stealth bombers as launch platforms. Russia has compensated for its lack of stealth aircraft by deploying various cruise missiles with hypersonic or stealth capabilities such as the Kh-102 and Zircon. The nature of Russia’s new strategic nuclear weapon remains unclear, with some sources speculating that it could be the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile which is Russia’s first post-Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile. It was first fired on November 21 against Ukrainian targets, the date the existence of the program was announced to the world.
President Putin having confirmed the start of mass production on June 23, 2025, the missile would however have already passed the testing stage. Hints at a new weapons system being announced, the Oreshnik was not announced until November 2024. One possibility is that the system in question is the Poseidon nuclear torpedo or the 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile, both new and unique existing equipment, it is reported.

Faouzi Oki