Moscow Reports Accomplished Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, first announced in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov stated the missile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were confirmed as complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the general as saying.

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

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, Moscow faces major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the country's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical cited in the report states the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be capable to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The same journal also notes the missile can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, designated an operational name by a foreign security organization, is thought to be propelled by a reactor system, which is supposed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year located a site 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from the recent past, an analyst informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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