MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. The Burevestnik cruise missile uses artificial intelligence technology to process a large stock of data, including terrain features and the starry sky, Valery Polovinkin, scientific head of the Krylov State Research Center, said on Tuesday.
"It [Burevestnik] can fly at both high and low altitudes which makes it invisible, in addition its control systems use artificial intelligence, which processes a large stock of data - maps with terrain features and the starry sky and its other integrated data," he said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily.
Burevestnik cruise missile
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his address to the Federal Assembly in March 2018 that Russia had developed a small-sized nuclear power unit that could be used in a cruise missile that would get actually an unlimited range. As the head of the state pointed out the missile would fly at low altitudes and be stealthy with an unpredictable flight path and would get a nuclear warhead.
Following the voting results on the website of the Russian Defense Ministry the missile was dubbed the Burevestnik. This was the first case in Russia’s history when the weapon’s name was selected by public vote.
Russia started developing the Burevestnik missile after the United States quit the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in December 2001. The development of new strategic weapons is aimed at enhancing Russia’s defense capability and preventing any aggression against Russia and its allies, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed.
On October 26, 2025, Russian Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to President Putin that the testing of the Burevestnik, an unlimited-range cruise missile, had been successfully completed.
During the testing, the missile remained airborne for approximately 15 hours, covering a distance of 14,000 kilometers. Gerasimov stressed that this range was not the missile’s limit. He highlighted that the missile’s flight involved all necessary vertical and horizontal maneuvers, demonstrating its advanced capabilities to evade missile defense and air defense systems.