Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's leading commander.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, originally disclosed in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state declared that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, according to an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the trial on October 21.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were determined to be complying with standards, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet stated the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization noted the identical period, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap resulting in a number of casualties."

A defence publication quoted in the analysis states the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to target objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also explains the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.

An examination by a news agency the previous year identified a location 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Employing space-based photos from August 2024, an expert informed the service he had observed several deployment sites being built at the location.

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