Moscow Announces Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been conducted in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had partial success since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader said the projectile was in the air for 15 hours during the evaluation on the specified date.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, as per a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the news agency stated the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Russia encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the state's inventory likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the reliable performance of the atomic power system," experts wrote.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and a mishap causing multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study states the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be able to reach goals in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can operate as low as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, making it difficult for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency the previous year located a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Using orbital photographs from last summer, an expert told the service he had detected multiple firing positions being built at the site.

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