Russia Announces Successful Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the country's senior general.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the general reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to avoid defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.
The national leader said that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in 2023, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, according to an disarmament advocacy body.
The military leader reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the test on October 21.
He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the media source stated the official as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.
A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."
Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the corresponding time, the nation faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.
"Its integration into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident leading to multiple fatalities."
A armed forces periodical referenced in the study asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the missile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike goals in the American territory."
The same journal also explains the projectile can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to stop.
The weapon, referred to as a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after initial propulsion units have launched it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a media outlet recently located a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.
Using satellite imagery from last summer, an expert reported to the service he had identified several deployment sites under construction at the site.
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