Moscow Confirms Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the country's leading commander.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov informed the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to bypass missile defences.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, as per an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov reported the missile was in the air for fifteen hours during the trial on the specified date.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

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

The projectile's application has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

However, as an international strategic institute commented the corresponding time, Moscow confronts major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap leading to several deaths."

A military journal referenced in the study states the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be able to reach objectives in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the projectile can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The missile, designated an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a reporting service recently located a facility 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert reported to the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.

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