Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon
Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the state's senior general.
"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander reported to the head of state in a broadcast conference.
The terrain-hugging prototype missile, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade missile defences.
Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.
The president stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.
The military leader stated the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.
He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were confirmed as complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it demonstrated advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the commander as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in recent years.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the identical period, the nation confronts major obstacles in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.
"There were numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap causing multiple fatalities."
A military journal cited in the analysis claims the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach objectives in the continental US."
The same journal also explains the missile can operate as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the earth, causing complexity for defensive networks to intercept.
The weapon, code-named a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is designed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.
An investigation by a news agency the previous year located a site 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert reported to the agency he had identified multiple firing positions being built at the facility.
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