Moscow Confirms Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the country's senior general.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the general informed the head of state in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade defensive systems.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been held in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per 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 missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to evade defensive networks," the media source stated the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a singular system with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, the nation faces major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists stated.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical cited in the report asserts the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to strike objectives in the American territory."

The same journal also says the missile can fly as low as a very low elevation above ground, making it difficult for air defences to stop.

The weapon, code-named an operational name by an international defence pact, is thought to be propelled by a atomic power source, which is designed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year identified a location 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist reported to the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the location.

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