Russia Confirms Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon
The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's top military official.
"We have launched a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the commander told the head of state in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to avoid missile defences.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the test on October 21.
He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.
"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source stated the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in recent years.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."
Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, Moscow encounters significant challenges in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the nation's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," experts stated.
"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap resulting in several deaths."
A armed forces periodical cited in the study claims the weapon has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the projectile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be able to strike goals in the continental US."
The corresponding source also explains the missile can travel as low as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to stop.
The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is thought to be powered by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the air.
An investigation by a news agency recently identified a facility a considerable distance north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.
Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert reported to the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the site.
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