Moscow Announces Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile
Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the state's leading commander.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
The general said the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.
He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, as per a national news agency.
"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to evade missile and air defence systems," the news agency stated the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.
A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the corresponding time, Russia faces significant challenges in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the country's inventory likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," analysts stated.
"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing several deaths."
A military journal referenced in the report states the missile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, enabling "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be equipped to strike targets in the American territory."
The identical publication also explains the missile can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to engage.
The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is thought to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.
An investigation by a news agency last year located a location 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.
Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert informed the service he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the location.
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