Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile
Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's top military official.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a vast distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the commander reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.
The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.
Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been carried out in last year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, based on an arms control campaign group.
The military leader stated the weapon was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be up to specification, based on a national news agency.
"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."
Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow encounters major obstacles in developing a functional system.
"Its integration into the nation's inventory potentially relies not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident leading to several deaths."
A defence publication quoted in the analysis asserts the missile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike goals in the American territory."
The corresponding source also notes the weapon can operate as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.
The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is designed to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.
An investigation by a media outlet the previous year located a site 295 miles north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.
Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an specialist reported to the service he had identified several deployment sites being built at the location.
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