Russia Reports Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a vast distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the general told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in recent years, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in 2023, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The general said the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to bypass missile and air defence systems," the media source stated the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Russia encounters considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts noted.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing several deaths."

A defence publication referenced in the study states the projectile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to target objectives in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a reactor system, which is designed to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency recently identified a site a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert reported to the agency he had identified multiple firing positions being built at the site.

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