Russia Reports Accomplished Trial of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-flying experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to avoid missile defences.

Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been held in last year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

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

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a singular system with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, Moscow confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the country's inventory potentially relies not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," specialists stated.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study states the projectile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the weapon to be based throughout the nation and still be able to target goals in the continental US."

The same journal also explains the projectile can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The projectile, designated Skyfall by a Western alliance, is considered driven by a atomic power source, which is designed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a media outlet last year located a facility 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Utilizing space-based photos from August 2024, an analyst informed the outlet he had observed several deployment sites in development at the facility.

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