Moscow Announces Accomplished Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general told the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to bypass defensive systems.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the armament had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had limited accomplishment since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader stated the missile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on 21 October.

He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, based on a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A defence publication cited in the study asserts the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the projectile to be based throughout the nation and still be equipped to reach targets in the American territory."

The corresponding source also says the weapon can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The weapon, designated a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.

An examination by a media outlet last year located a site 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the facility.

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