Russia Reports Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, first announced in recent years, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The president declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had partial success since 2016, based on an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov reported the missile was in the air for fifteen hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the media source quoted the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the corresponding time, Russia encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the country's arsenal potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A defence publication quoted in the study claims the projectile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to strike goals in the American territory."

The same journal also explains the weapon can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a news agency the previous year pinpointed a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Using satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist informed the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads in development at the location.

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