Moscow Reports Accomplished Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the country's leading commander.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the general informed President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov said the missile was in the air for a significant duration during the trial on the specified date.

He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, as per a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated advanced abilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

However, as an international strategic institute noted the identical period, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the study asserts the weapon has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the projectile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be able to reach goals in the American territory."

The identical publication also notes the missile can travel as low as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for air defences to engage.

The projectile, designated a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is considered propelled by a reactor system, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency the previous year located a facility 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.

Using orbital photographs from last summer, an analyst reported to the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions being built at the site.

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