MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Russia is working on a new generation of nuclear-powered cruise missiles that will be supersonic, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the ceremony of awarding Burevestnik and Poseidon developers.

He noted that it takes seconds to launch Burevestnik’s powerful super-small nuclear reactors whereas its takes hours and even days to switch on regular reactors.

"New generations of weapons are already being developed on the basis of such power units. Moreover, work has started on the next generation of nuclear-powered cruise missiles. Their velocity will be thrice as high as the speed of the sound, and they will ne hypersonic in the future," Putin said.

"We have recently discussed this with some of our colleagues in this room."

Hypersonic speed significantly exceeds the speed of sound in the atmosphere. Hypersound starts at Mach 4.5. One Mach equals 300 m/s, or 1,000 km/h.

About Burevestnik

On October 26, the Russian president said the crucial tests of the Burevestnik were over. According to him, a lot of work remains to be done to put these weapons on combat duty, but the key tasks have been completed.

In 2018, in a message to the Federal Assembly, Putin said that Russia had developed a small-sized nuclear power plant that could be used in a cruise missile, thanks to which it would receive an almost unlimited range. He said the missile will be low-flying, inconspicuous, with an unpredictable flight path and will receive a nuclear warhead.

After a voting on the Defense Ministry’s website, the missile was named Burevestnik, the first time in Russia’s history when a name for a weapon was chosen by popular vote. Previously, it was defined by the military.

The development of the missile began after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2001. The creation of new strategic weapons systems is aimed at increasing the defense capability and preventing any aggression against Russia and its allies, the Russian Defense Ministry said. The Pentagon acknowledged that the Burevestnik missile is capable of delivering strikes from almost any vector "due to its extreme range and autonomy.".