Moscow Reports Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude prototype missile, originally disclosed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

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

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had moderate achievement since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as complying with standards, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

However, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, the nation confronts major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the country's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap resulting in several deaths."

A military journal referenced in the report claims the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the weapon to be based across the country and still be equipped to strike goals in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also says the weapon can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The weapon, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a location 475km north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist told the agency he had observed several deployment sites in development at the facility.

Related Developments

• Head of State Endorses Amendments to Strategic Guidelines