Russia Confirms Effective Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Weapon

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's leading commander.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general told the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-flying advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to bypass missile defences.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had moderate achievement since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov stated the projectile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the trial on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, according to a local reporting service.

"As a result, 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 focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

However, as an international strategic institute commented the corresponding time, Russia encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the country's inventory potentially relies not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts stated.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap leading to multiple fatalities."

A military journal referenced in the study states the projectile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to target goals in the American territory."

The corresponding source also notes the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to intercept.

The weapon, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a reactor system, which is supposed to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a news agency last year identified a location 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst informed the agency he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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