Moscow Announces Accomplished Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the state's top military official.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in last year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The general stated the missile was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it exhibited high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the outlet reported the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the same year, the nation faces significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the country's inventory likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap resulting in multiple fatalities."

A defence publication quoted in the study claims the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be based across the country and still be capable to target targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, designated an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the sky.

An inquiry by a news agency recently located a site 295 miles north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Employing space-based photos from the recent past, an specialist told the agency he had detected several deployment sites under construction at the site.

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