Russia Reports Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's top military official.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade missile defences.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been conducted in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, according to an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov reported the projectile was in the sky for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the media source reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the same year, Moscow encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the weapon has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be capable to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can travel as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, making it difficult for air defences to stop.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the sky.

An examination by a news agency the previous year located a location 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.

Using orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst reported to the service he had observed nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.

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