Russia Announces Accomplished Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.
"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.
The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in recent years, has been described as having a possible global reach and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.
Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.
The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had limited accomplishment since several years ago, based on an non-proliferation organization.
Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the evaluation on the specified date.
He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were confirmed as meeting requirements, based on a local reporting service.
"Therefore, it demonstrated advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source reported the official as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.
A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."
Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.
"Its entry into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.
"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap causing multiple fatalities."
A military journal cited in the report states the missile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be based throughout the nation and still be able to strike targets in the United States mainland."
The same journal also notes the weapon can fly as low as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, making it difficult for defensive networks to stop.
The missile, designated a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is believed to be powered by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.
An inquiry by a reporting service recently pinpointed a location 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.
Using space-based photos from the recent past, an analyst informed the agency he had identified multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.
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