Moscow Announces Successful Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-flying advanced armament, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the missile was in the air for 15 hours during the evaluation on October 21.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet quoted the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in recent years.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank commented the corresponding time, the nation faces considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be based throughout the nation and still be able to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the weapon can fly as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the sky.

An examination by a reporting service recently pinpointed a location a considerable distance from the city as the likely launch site of the missile.

Using space-based photos from the recent past, an analyst informed the outlet he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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