Moscow Confirms Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the state's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade defensive systems.

Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in last year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, as per a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source quoted the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the identical period, Russia faces major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap causing several deaths."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis claims the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to target targets in the American territory."

The corresponding source also notes the projectile can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a news agency the previous year located a location a considerable distance from the city as the likely launch site of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert informed the agency he had observed multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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