Russia Announces Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the state's top military official.

"We have launched a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the general informed the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid defensive systems.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader said that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had moderate achievement since several years ago, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general reported the projectile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the test on 21 October.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a local reporting service.

"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject 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: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."

However, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Russia faces major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an accident causing several deaths."

A military journal referenced in the study claims the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be equipped to target objectives in the American territory."

The identical publication also says the weapon can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.

The projectile, code-named a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a reactor system, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the sky.

An investigation by a news agency recently pinpointed a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an analyst informed the service he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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