Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander told the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been conducted in 2023, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the evaluation on October 21.

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

"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute commented the identical period, Russia confronts significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the state's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A defence publication quoted in the analysis claims the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to target targets in the American territory."

The corresponding source also explains the weapon can operate as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, code-named a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year located a facility 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Employing space-based photos from last summer, an expert reported to the agency he had observed nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.

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