This was originally developed in the 1950's, and the successful development of SLBMs rendered it irrelevant, since as a cruise missile it would have been much e

This was originally developed in the 1950's, and the successful development of SLBMs rendered it irrelevant, since as a cruise missile it would have been much easier to intercept than a ballistic warhead, as well as much slower to reach a target, and submarine launch also provided first strike immunity. And this is what happens when your nuclear thermal propulsion system goes prompt critical on the ground. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket#/media/File:Destruction_of_KIWI_Nuclear_Reactor_-_GPN-2002-000145.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket#/media/... This was a nominal 1100MW design, the Pluto reactor was about half this output. It's insane that the Russians are testing this thing over their own territory.