Russia Confirms Accomplished Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's leading commander.
"We have conducted a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-flying advanced armament, originally disclosed in 2018, has been described as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass missile defences.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.
The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been conducted in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had moderate achievement since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.
The general reported the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the test on October 21.
He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, according to a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the official as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
However, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, Russia confronts significant challenges in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.
"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."
A armed forces periodical cited in the study claims the projectile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to reach objectives in the United States mainland."
The same journal also explains the missile can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.
The weapon, designated Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a atomic power source, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.
An inquiry by a news agency the previous year pinpointed a site 295 miles north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an analyst informed the outlet he had identified multiple firing positions being built at the site.
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