“Andreas Umland admitted that the great range and duration of flight of the “Petrel” is undoubtedly an advantage.”, — write: www.unian.ua
Andreas Umland admitted that the great range and duration of flight of the “Petrel” is undoubtedly an advantage.
Umland warned that “Petrel” even without a nuclear warhead is a “dirty bomb” / photo – Defense Express”Burevisnyk” is an old Russian project of a long-range nuclear-powered cruise missile. Previously, this weapon was known for its unsuccessful tests.
Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Stockholm Center for East European Studies at the Swedish Institute of International Relations in Stockholm and an associate professor at the Department of Political Science at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, wrote in his column for the Kyiv Post that “Petrel” does little to change the war in Ukraine, as well as the current balance of power between the United States and Russia. He noted that the Russians began working on these weapons after Washington terminated the 1972 Soviet-American missile defense treaty in 2002.
Umland emphasized that the balance of power between the United States and Russia is determined by ICBMs with multiple warheads. He also expressed doubts that “Burevisnik” is not afraid of modern air defense systems, since this cruise missile was first announced in 2018.
In addition, Umland believes that the “Petrel” will not be of great importance for the Russian-Ukrainian war. He explained that the flight time of cruise missiles between Russia and Ukraine is short, because of which the decisive advantage of the “Petrel” will be of little use.
The political scientist also added that it is impractical for Moscow to use the “Petrel” even without a nuclear warhead. He noted that its use would be a further violation of the Budapest Memorandum, and could also lead to radioactive contamination of the affected area, effectively making it a “dirty bomb.”
However, Umland does not rule out that the Russian Federation may hit Ukraine with the “Petrel”. He believes that this can happen if Ukraine launches its Neptune or Flamingo missiles at Russia.
Umland warned that this would lead to a huge escalation of the war and cause a global reaction. He is sure that there will definitely be a decisive response to such actions of Russia, because of which Putin will not dare to use the “Petrel” on Ukraine.
The political scientist believes that Putin’s recent statement about the successful test of the “Petrel” is aimed at intimidating Ukraine’s Western partners. Moscow assures that this is a “miracle weapon” against which there are no means of protection. However, the question arises as to how ready this cruise missile is really ready for use.
Umland admitted that the Burevisnyk’s huge range and flight duration are undoubtedly an advantage. However, it is doubtful that these characteristics really make the missile elusive.
Where did Russia launch the “Petrel”Earlier, the military intelligence of Norway reported that the launch of the long-range nuclear-powered Petrel cruise missile was carried out from the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in the Barents Sea. NATO named this weapon SSC-X-9 “Skyfall”.
The Russians claim that the tests of the 9М730 “Burevisnyk” missile were successful. According to them, this is a nuclear weapon that can supposedly penetrate any defensive shield.
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