Russia Confirms Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the nation's top military official.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.
The low-flying experimental weapon, first announced in recent years, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass missile defences.
International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.
The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been conducted in 2023, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had partial success since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.
The general reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.
He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were determined to be complying with standards, according to a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it exhibited superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the commander as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.
A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the same year, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.
"Its entry into the state's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts noted.
"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident causing several deaths."
A military journal quoted in the report asserts the missile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be equipped to strike objectives in the continental US."
The identical publication also says the weapon can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for air defences to engage.
The missile, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be powered by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.
An investigation by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a location 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.
Employing space-based photos from the recent past, an analyst told the service he had identified several deployment sites being built at the location.
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