Moscow Reports Effective Test of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Missile
The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the country's top military official.
"We have conducted a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general told the head of state in a broadcast conference.
The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in recent years, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.
The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in 2023, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, based on an arms control campaign group.
The general stated the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the test on 21 October.
He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the commander as saying.
The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in the past decade.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Russia faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its induction into the state's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."
A defence publication quoted in the report states the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the missile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach objectives in the American territory."
The corresponding source also says the projectile can fly as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.
The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the air.
An investigation by a media outlet the previous year pinpointed a facility 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an specialist informed the outlet he had detected several deployment sites being built at the location.
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