Moscow Announces Effective Trial of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the nation's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to evade missile defences.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had moderate achievement since several years ago, based on an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as meeting requirements, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it displayed superior performance to bypass defensive networks," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Moscow encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists noted.

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

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis claims the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the weapon to be deployed across the country and still be capable to reach targets in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the weapon can travel as low as a very low elevation above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to stop.

The projectile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is believed to be powered by a atomic power source, which is intended to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the sky.

An examination by a news agency last year located a location a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an analyst reported to the service he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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