Burya La-350
Buran RSS-40

OKB design bureau, led by S. Korolev, developed a design for an experimental cruise missile (EKR) with a cruising speed of Mach 3 and a range of 1,300km in 1951-53A. It was to consist of a booster with [liquid-fueled rocket engines (derived from the R-11 rocket with storable fuel) , a supersonic ramjet engine during its cruising stage (SPVRD) developed by the OKB of M. Bondaryuk and a celestial navigation system to provide adequate accuracy for hitting targets. The technical challenges of intercontinental cruise missiles (MKRs) were not as steep as those for ballistic missiles with desired ranges of tens of thousands of kilometers.

Authorized by ministerial decree on May 20th 1954, the Burya/Buran was developed using two parallel projects. The Burya was assigned to the OKB of S. Lavochkin [which had experience in supersonic fighters], and the Buran was the project of the OKB of V. Myasishchev [which was established to develop long-range bombers]. Myasishchev's Buran was designed to carry a larger warhead than the Burya, and had a large takeoff weight and thrust. The work of the Lavochkin on the Burya OKB moved quickly, and by 1956, when the Myasishchev OKB was finishing the design engineering of the Buran, the first models of Lavochkin's Burya had already been created.

The flights of the Burya began in July 1957, at the same time as the flight testing of the R-7 ICBM developed by the Korolev OKB. The Soviet leadership decided soon afterward to curtail the work on the Buran. The final flight of the Burya were conducted on 16 December 1960, following which further work was discontinued.

Although the source of the information is uncertain, American publications beginning in 1960 made reference to a "large winged antipodal T-4A bomber under development in the USSR," and even included drawings. However, by the mid-1960s all references in the open literature to such projects vanished, suggesting that such projects were merely Cold War rumors. The fact of the existence of these projects was not confirmed in the open literature until the end of the Cold War, and the provenance of the early reports remains obscure.

Specifications
Characteristics	Navaho	Burya	Buran
Launch mass, tonnes	66.2	96	125
Mass of warhead, tonnes	2.25	2.19	3.50
Total length of system, meters	25.1	19.9	24.0
Boosters
Quantity	1	2	4
Length, meters	23.1	18.9	19.1
Diameter of body, meters	1.83	1.45	1.20
Thrust at launch, tonnes of force	128.45	2 x 68.61	4 x 55
Fuel Components:
oxidizer	liquid oxygen	nitric acid	liquid oxygen
combustible	ethyl alcohol	amines	kerosene
Cruising Stage:
Length, meters	20.7	18.0	23.3
Diameter of body, meters	1.83	2.20	2.40
Wingspan, meters	8.72	7.75	11.6
Wing area, meters2	38.9	60	98
Number of SPVRDs	2	1	1
Diameter of SPVRDs, meters	1.22	1.70	2.00
Cruising thrust, tonnes of force	2 x 3.94	7.65	10.6
Maximum range of flight, km	5,400	8,500	8,500
Cruising altitude of flight, km	22-24	18-20	18-20
Cruising speed of flight, Mach	3.25	3.10	3.10
Start of development	1950	1954	1954
Date of start of flight testing	6 Nov 56	1 Jul 57	-
Total number of launches	11	17	-
of which, failed	10	3
Date of end of flight testing	18 Oct 58	16 Dec 60	-
Shutdown of project	July 1957	December 1960	-