Moscow Reports Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the state's leading commander.
"We have conducted a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a televised meeting.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, initially revealed in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to bypass anti-missile technology.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
The general said the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.
"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the media source quoted the general as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.
A previous study by a American military analysis unit concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."
Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute commented the corresponding time, Moscow encounters significant challenges in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap causing a number of casualties."
A military journal cited in the analysis states the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be able to target goals in the American territory."
The corresponding source also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.
The missile, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the sky.
An investigation by a news agency last year identified a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the weapon.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert told the service he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the facility.
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