Russia Confirms Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Weapon

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the nation's leading commander.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to bypass defensive systems.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been carried out in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since the mid-2010s, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader stated the missile was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the corresponding time, Moscow faces significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing multiple fatalities."

A military journal quoted in the report claims the projectile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, allowing "the projectile to be based across the country and still be capable to target goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the missile can travel as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.

The weapon, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is believed to be driven by a reactor system, which is supposed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An examination by a news agency the previous year located a site a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist informed the outlet he had identified several deployment sites in development at the facility.

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