Russia Confirms Effective Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the nation's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov informed the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude advanced armament, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been held in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader said the weapon was in the air for fifteen hours during the evaluation on the specified date.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as complying with standards, according to a local reporting service.

"As a result, it demonstrated superior performance to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."

However, as a foreign policy research organization commented the identical period, Russia faces significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical cited in the report states the weapon has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to reach objectives in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the weapon can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered driven by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the air.

An examination by a news agency recently located a site a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Using space-based photos from August 2024, an specialist informed the agency he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the facility.

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