Moscow Reports Successful Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the state's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the commander informed the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to bypass missile defences.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "final successful test" of the missile had been carried out in 2023, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader said the projectile was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency stated the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the identical period, Russia confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical cited in the analysis claims the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach targets in the United States mainland."

The same journal also explains the weapon can fly as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, causing complexity for defensive networks to stop.

The projectile, 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 engage after initial propulsion units have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a media outlet last year identified a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Using satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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