Russia Confirms Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile
Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the country's top military official.
"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a public appearance.
The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to avoid anti-missile technology.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.
The head of state declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.
The military leader stated the missile was in the air for a significant duration during the test on October 21.
He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a local reporting service.
"As a result, it displayed advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet stated the general as saying.
The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the identical period, the nation confronts major obstacles in achieving operational status.
"Its entry into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," specialists wrote.
"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."
A defence publication quoted in the analysis states the missile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be able to reach objectives in the continental US."
The corresponding source also explains the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.
The weapon, designated Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have sent it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year identified a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.
Employing space-based photos from August 2024, an specialist told the service he had detected nine horizontal launch pads in development at the site.
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