Russia Announces Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov informed the head of state in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid defensive systems.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had limited accomplishment since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader stated the weapon was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the test on October 21.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be up to specification, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency stated the official as saying.

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

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

However, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, the nation encounters major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A defence publication quoted in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, enabling "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to reach goals in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the projectile can travel as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The weapon, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency last year pinpointed a facility 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert told the service he had identified nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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