Moscow Reports Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's top military official.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the commander told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass missile defences.

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

The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in 2023, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, according to an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov stated the weapon was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it displayed advanced abilities to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the corresponding time, Moscow encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts wrote.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an incident causing several deaths."

A defence publication cited in the report claims the weapon has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be able to reach objectives in the American territory."

The same journal also explains the weapon can travel as low as a very low elevation above ground, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The weapon, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to engage after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a media outlet recently pinpointed a facility 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Utilizing space-based photos from the recent past, an expert informed the service he had observed multiple firing positions being built at the site.

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