Russia Announces Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile
Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the nation's senior general.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the commander reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.
The low-altitude prototype missile, first announced in recent years, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.
The national leader declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in last year, but the claim 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 stated the missile was in the air for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.
He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet quoted the general as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.
A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Russia confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.
"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."
A defence publication referenced in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the weapon to be based across the country and still be able to strike goals in the continental US."
The corresponding source also notes the projectile can travel as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, causing complexity for defensive networks to stop.
The weapon, referred to as Skyfall by an international defence pact, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.
An examination by a reporting service the previous year located a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.
Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst informed the outlet he had detected nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.
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