Moscow Announces Successful Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the country's top military official.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general told the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader said the missile was in the sky for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it demonstrated advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

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

A previous study by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the identical period, the nation confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," experts wrote.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication cited in the study asserts the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to target objectives in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the weapon can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.

The missile, code-named a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a media outlet last year located a location a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst informed the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the location.

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