Moscow Confirms Successful Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile
Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the nation's senior general.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been carried out in last year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had partial success since several years ago, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
The military leader said the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the evaluation on 21 October.
He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it exhibited superior performance to bypass missile and air defence systems," the media source quoted the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.
A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, the nation faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the nation's inventory potentially relies not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," experts noted.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."
A defence publication cited in the study claims the weapon has a range of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to strike targets in the American territory."
The same journal also says the weapon can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to intercept.
The projectile, code-named a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is thought to be driven by a reactor system, which is supposed to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.
An inquiry by a media outlet recently located a site a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the armament.
Using space-based photos from the recent past, an expert reported to the service he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the site.
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