Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the state's top military official.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the commander informed the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, originally disclosed in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to bypass defensive systems.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The head of state stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the evaluation on the specified date.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were determined to be complying with standards, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet stated the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a global defence think tank observed the identical period, Moscow encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's inventory potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," experts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be stationed throughout the nation and still be equipped to strike goals in the American territory."

The same journal also says the missile can operate as low as a very low elevation above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The projectile, designated an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a reactor system, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the sky.

An investigation by a media outlet recently pinpointed a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an specialist informed the service he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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