Moscow Confirms Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile
Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the nation's senior general.
"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.
The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in the past decade, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid missile defences.
Western experts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.
The head of state stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, according to an disarmament advocacy body.
Gen Gerasimov reported the projectile was in the air for a significant duration during the test on 21 October.
He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it displayed advanced abilities to evade defensive networks," the news agency stated the commander as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.
A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."
Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, Russia faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its induction into the nation's inventory potentially relies not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.
"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing a number of casualties."
A defence publication referenced in the study claims the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to strike targets in the United States mainland."
The corresponding source also notes the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to stop.
The missile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.
An investigation by a reporting service the previous year identified a location a considerable distance north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the weapon.
Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst informed the outlet he had observed multiple firing positions under construction at the site.
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