Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the country's senior general.
"We have conducted a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The low-altitude advanced armament, first announced in recent years, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, based on an arms control campaign group.
The general reported the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.
He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were confirmed as up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to circumvent defensive networks," the news agency quoted the official as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in the past decade.
A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."
Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its induction into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts stated.
"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing several deaths."
A defence publication quoted in the study claims the projectile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be capable to strike targets in the United States mainland."
The corresponding source also says the missile can travel as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, causing complexity for air defences to stop.
The projectile, code-named an operational name by an international defence pact, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the sky.
An examination by a news agency last year identified a location 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.
Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst informed the service he had observed several deployment sites under construction at the location.
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