Russia Reports Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the country's top military official.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying advanced armament, initially revealed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The national leader said that a "final successful test" of the armament had been held in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The general reported the weapon was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet quoted the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a global defence think tank noted the corresponding time, the nation encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the state's arsenal arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study claims the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the weapon 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 travel as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to engage.

The projectile, code-named a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service recently identified a facility 475km from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an specialist told the service he had observed several deployment sites in development at the site.

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