Russia Reports Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the state's senior general.
"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the general told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in recent years, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade missile defences.
International analysts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.
The president declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had partial success since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
Gen Gerasimov reported the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.
He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were confirmed as up to specification, based on a national news agency.
"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.
The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.
A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the corresponding time, Moscow encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.
"Its entry into the state's inventory likely depends not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts wrote.
"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an incident resulting in several deaths."
A defence publication quoted in the report asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "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 at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.
The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is thought to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.
An investigation by a news agency last year identified a site 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.
Employing orbital photographs from the recent past, an specialist told the service he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the site.
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