Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the state's top military official.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the air for a significant duration during the trial on October 21.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it displayed superior performance to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, Moscow confronts considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in several deaths."

A military journal referenced in the report states the projectile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the projectile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also explains the missile can operate as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.

The weapon, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service recently located a site a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.

Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst told the service he had detected several deployment sites being built at the location.

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