Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the country's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying advanced armament, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade missile defences.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The national leader said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been held in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had partial success since several years ago, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The general reported the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source stated the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.

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

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the same year, Russia faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.

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

A military journal cited in the report states the projectile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to strike targets in the American territory."

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 defensive networks to intercept.

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

An inquiry by a news agency last year identified a facility 475km above the capital as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an expert reported to the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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