Moscow Announces Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the nation's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the general reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to avoid defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been held in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had moderate achievement since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general reported the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited superior performance to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the corresponding time, Moscow confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts noted.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the missile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be able to target goals in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also says the weapon can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, rendering it challenging for air defences to stop.

The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is designed to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.

An inquiry by a news agency recently pinpointed a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an specialist reported to the service he had detected several deployment sites in development at the site.

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