Russia Announces Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told the head of state in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, originally disclosed in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the projectile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.

"Therefore, it displayed superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source stated the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a global defence think tank commented the same year, Moscow confronts significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts wrote.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis states the missile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike objectives in the American territory."

The same journal also notes the projectile can fly as low as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to intercept.

The projectile, designated a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet recently pinpointed a facility a considerable distance north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Employing space-based photos from last summer, an specialist reported to the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads in development at the location.

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