Modeling the Performance of the Burevestnik Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile

Modeling the Performance of the Burevestnik Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Jake J. Hecla1,2 and R. Scott Kemp1 1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA 2Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA *Corresponding authors: Jake J. Hecla Abstract: In the last decade, Russia's strategic arsenal has pivoted towards a reliance on exotic nuclear-weapon delivery systems. One such system, the Burevestnik (NATO: 9M730) is claimed to be a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile capable of nearly indefinite flight. The air-breathing nuclear propulsion system used in this missile is unique, and its attributes are generally unfamiliar to both the aerospace and nuclear-security communities. To better understand the Burevestnik, and the potential of air-breathing nuclear propulsion systems generally, we have developed a nuclear-aircraft modeling toolkit capable of constraining the missile's performance characteristics. Using this framework, we conclude that the Burevestnik is a subsonic cruise missile system measuring 9.5 ± 0.32 m in length, with a 5.6 ± 0.18 m wingspan, likely powered by a direct-cycle nuclear turbojet (our calculations almost entirely exclude the possibility of a nuclear ramjet). Under these assumptions, our models predict a reactor thermal power of 4.3 ± 1.3 MWth at cruise, with peak power demand during climb and terminal maneuvering exceeding 15 MWth, which may be met with a supplemental chemical interburner. Monte Carlo simulations show that escaping neutrons will generate in excess of 5 TBq of gaseous radionuclides per MW-hr of flight, including isotopes such as 41Ar, 85mKr, 83mKr and 14C, some of which may be detectable using existing monitoring networks. Keywords: Burevestnik, air-breathing nuclear propulsion, nuclear thermal propulsion, OpenMC 1 Introduction Nuclear power for the propulsion of aerospace systems is an old concept, first envisioned by Fermi in the mid-1940s. Between the 1950s and the 1970s, the United States and Soviet Union carried out testing of airborne non-propulsion reactors and ground testing of nuclear turbojets to evaluate the feasibility of nuclear aircraft. Concepts explored during this era included crewed unlimited-range bombers, supersonic low-altitude intercontinental cruise missiles, unlimited-range submarine hunting aircraft, ultra-heavy ground effect vehicles, and spacecraft propelled by means of nuclear detonations. None of these programs resulted in an airborne nuclear-propelled craft, and most programs were abandoned by the mid-1970s. Publicly-disclosed research on nuclear-powered aircraft was sparse following the initial wave of interest, with occasional paper studies such as the Northrup Grumman–Sandia UP3S program and the Phantom Works–Sandia “Extremely Long Endurance Covert UAV” concept. This ebb in research ended in 2018 when Russia announced the development of a nuclear-powered cruise missile called the Burevestnik. This return to aircraft nuclear propulsion merits a re-examination of the potential capabilities and challenges of aerospace reactors. Burevestnik is not the first nuclear-powered cruise missile concept. In 1961, the U.S. Air Force sought to develop a nuclear ramjet-based supersonic land-attack cruise missile under the moniker Project Pluto. Pluto's concept of operation was...