Russia Confirms Effective Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have launched a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, according to an non-proliferation organization.

The general reported the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the same year, Moscow encounters considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident leading to several deaths."

A military journal referenced in the analysis asserts the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to reach targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also says the projectile can operate as low as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the sky.

An inquiry by a media outlet the previous year pinpointed a site 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst told the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.

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