The claim that “Even Trump’s Golden Dome Can’t Stop Putin’s Nuclear Burevestnik Missile” stems from the asserted capabilities of the Russian 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile against the theoretical effectiveness of the proposed U.S. “Golden Dome” missile defense system.

Russia claims the Burevestnik missile is “invincible” to current and future defenses, primarily because of its propulsion system and unique flight characteristics, which directly challenge the intended purpose of the multi-layered Golden Dome concept.

🇷🇺 The Burevestnik Missile (NATO: SSC-X-9 Skyfall)

The Burevestnik (“Storm Petrel”) is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable cruise missile designed by Russia specifically to bypass and render obsolete U.S. missile defense systems.

• Propulsion and Range: Its most significant feature is a miniature nuclear reactor used for propulsion. This theoretically gives the missile an “effectively unlimited range” and the ability to stay airborne (or “loiter”) for days. During a key test on October 21, 2025, a Russian general reported the missile flew about 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) and remained airborne for roughly 15 hours.
• Defense Evasion: Russia claims the missile’s unlimited range allows it to take unpredictable flight paths—even circling the globe—and approach the U.S. from unexpected directions. As a low-flying cruise missile (operating at subsonic speeds and potentially as low as 50 meters above ground), it is designed to fly under and around traditional ballistic missile defense radars and interceptors.
• Purpose: Since its unveiling in 2018, President Putin has described it as Moscow’s response to the expansion of the U.S. missile defense program.
• Concerns: Western experts have long questioned its technical feasibility and strategic value, noting that its nuclear engine presents severe environmental and safety risks due to potential radiation leakage, a concern that caused the U.S. to abandon a similar program (Project Pluto) in the Cold War era.

🇺🇸 The “Golden Dome” Missile Defense Concept

The “Golden Dome for America” is a proposed multi-layered missile defense system initiative announced by the Trump administration. It is a highly ambitious, still-theoretical concept framed as a shield to protect the entire U.S. homeland from all foreign missile threats. The name is often compared rhetorically to Israel’s Iron Dome system.

• Layered Architecture: The vision for Golden Dome calls for a comprehensive, layered defense that would ideally integrate current and future technologies:
  • Space-Based Defenses: A global constellation of satellites equipped with both sophisticated sensors for early detection and space-based interceptors to destroy missiles shortly after launch (in the “boost phase”).
  • Enhanced Ground Systems: Upgrades to existing systems like the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) to serve as a secondary layer.
  • Limited Area Defense: A final layer to protect population centers, potentially involving systems like the Patriot missile defense.
• The Intent: The goal is to defeat all threat types, including ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles. The “boost phase” intercept capability is considered key to neutralizing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

The Core Challenge: Burevestnik vs. Golden Dome

The central issue is the Burevestnik’s design to counter the Golden Dome’s core defensive assumptions:

1. Unlimited Range and Path: The Burevestnik’s nuclear-powered, unlimited range means it can fly an unpredictable, circuitous path to avoid areas covered by U.S. missile defense radars and interceptors, fundamentally challenging the idea of a comprehensive “dome” or shield.
2. Low-Altitude Cruise Threat: The Golden Dome concept is heavily focused on intercepting high-flying ballistic missiles, particularly during the boost phase. The Burevestnik, as a low-flying cruise missile, is designed to hug the terrain, which makes it far more difficult to detect and intercept using systems optimized for higher-altitude ballistic threats.
3. Current Status: While Russia claims to have successfully completed the “crucial testing” for the Burevestnik, the Golden Dome remains a largely conceptual and future-oriented defense architecture, with no operational deployment or proven capability against such an advanced weapon. Critics of the Golden Dome suggest its key components, especially the space-based interceptors, are not yet technically feasible.

In short, the Burevestnik is touted as an offensive weapon specifically designed to exploit the weaknesses of the U.S. defensive architecture, regardless of how technologically advanced the future “Golden Dome” might be.