revealed to be the conventional Myasishchev M-50 Bounder, a medium-range strategic bomber that performed like the USAFs B-58 Hustler. The design was considered a failure, never entered service, and was revealed to the public on Soviet Aviation Day in 1963 at Monino, putting the issue to rest. Tupolev Tu-119 The Soviet program of nuclear aircraft development resulted in the experimental Tupolev Tu-95LAL () which derived from the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber, but with a reactor fitted in the bomb bay. The aircraft is alleged to have been flown up to 40 times from 1961 to 1969. The main purpose of the flight phase was examining the effectiveness of the radiation shielding. A follow-up design, the Tu-119, was planned to have two conventional turboprop engines and two direct-cycle nuclear jet engines, but was never completed. Several other projects, like the supersonic Tupolev Tu-120 reached only the design phase. Russian programs In February 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia had developed a new, nuclear-powered cruise missile with nuclear warhead that can evade air and missile defenses and hit any point on the globe. According to the statements its first flight test occurred in 2017. It was claimed to feature "a small-size super-powerful power plant that can be placed inside the hull of a cruise missile and guarantee a range of flight ten times greater than that of other missiles." The video showed the missile evading defense systems over the Atlantic, flying over Cape Horn and finally north towards Hawaii. To date there is no publicly available evidence to verify these statements. The Pentagon stated that it is aware of a Russian test of a nuclear-powered cruise missile but the system is still under development and had crashed in the Arctic in 2017. A RAND Corporation researcher specializing in Russia said "My guess is they're not bluffing, that they've flight-tested this thing. But that's incredible." According to a CSIS fellow, such a nuclear-powered missile "has an almost unlimited range -- you could have it flying around for long periods of time before you order it to hit something" Putin's statements and the video showing a concept of the missile in flight suggest that it is not a supersonic ramjet like Project Pluto but a subsonic vehicle with a nuclear-heated turbojet or turbofan engine. The new cruise missile is named 9M730 Burevestnik (Russian: Буревестник; "Petrel"). See also Aircraft Reactor Experiment Georgia Nuclear Aircraft