Moscow Confirms Successful Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the nation's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov informed the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade defensive systems.

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

The president declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an arms control campaign group.

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

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet stated the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in recent years.

A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

However, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Russia confronts major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap causing a number of casualties."

A defence publication quoted in the report claims the weapon has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be equipped to target targets in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the projectile can travel as low as a very low elevation above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The weapon, referred to as an operational name by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service last year located a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from the recent past, an analyst informed the agency he had identified nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the site.

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