Moscow Confirms Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile
Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's leading commander.
"We have executed a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the general informed the head of state in a televised meeting.
The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass defensive systems.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been carried out in last year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, according to an non-proliferation organization.
The general reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.
He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it displayed superior performance to evade defensive networks," the outlet stated the official as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in recent years.
A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.
"Its entry into the state's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts wrote.
"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing several deaths."
A armed forces periodical cited in the analysis states the weapon has a range of between a substantial span, allowing "the projectile to be based across the country and still be able to target targets in the United States mainland."
The corresponding source also notes the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.
The missile, code-named an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.
An examination by a reporting service the previous year located a site 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the weapon.
Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an specialist informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.
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