| US Officials Suspect New Nuclear Missile in Explosion That Killed 7 Russians |
| Written by <a href="index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userProfile&user=51380"><span class="small">David E. Sanger and Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times</span></a> |
| Tuesday, 13 August 2019 08:25 |
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Excerpt: "United States intelligence officials have said they suspect the blast involved a prototype of what NATO calls the SSC-X-9 Skyfall. That is a cruise missile that Mr. Putin has boasted can reach any corner of the earth because it is partially powered by a small nuclear reactor."
US Officials Suspect New Nuclear Missile in Explosion That Killed 7 Russians13 August 19
American officials have said nothing publicly about the blast on Thursday, possibly one of the worst nuclear accidents in the region since Chernobyl, although apparently on a far smaller scale, with at least seven people, including scientists, confirmed dead. But the Russian government’s slow and secretive response has set off anxiety in nearby cities and towns — and attracted the attention of analysts in Washington and Europe who believe the explosion may offer a glimpse of technological weaknesses in Russia’s new arms program. Thursday’s accident happened offshore of the Nenoksa Missile Test Site and was followed by what nearby local officials initially reported was a spike in radiation in the atmosphere.  |
merican intelligence officials are racing to understand a mysterious explosion that released radiation off the coast of northern Russia last week, apparently during the test of a new type of nuclear-propelled cruise missile hailed by President Vladimir V. Putin as the centerpiece of Moscow’s arms race with the United States.