Russia Confirms Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's top military official.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in recent years, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass missile defences.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since several years ago, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

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

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in 2018.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute noted the same year, Russia encounters significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the state's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the report claims the projectile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the weapon to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach goals in the American territory."

The identical publication also explains the missile can travel as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, referred to as an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the sky.

An examination by a reporting service recently pinpointed a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from the recent past, an analyst told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the site.

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