Moscow Announces Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the commander informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to bypass missile defences.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.

The general stated the missile was in the air for 15 hours during the test on October 21.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a national news agency.

"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as an international strategic institute observed the identical period, the nation faces considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the country's inventory arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident causing several deaths."

A defence publication referenced in the report states the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be capable to target goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have sent it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a media outlet the previous year identified a facility 475km above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.

Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an expert told the outlet he had detected several deployment sites under construction at the facility.

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