Moscow Announces Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Weapon

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the state's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-flying prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been conducted in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since 2016, according to an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on 21 October.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, based on a national news agency.

"Consequently, it exhibited superior performance to evade missile and air defence systems," the media source quoted the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a foreign policy research organization commented the identical period, Moscow encounters significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the state's arsenal arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts stated.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the projectile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the projectile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach objectives in the United States mainland."

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

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a atomic power source, which is intended to engage after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the sky.

An investigation by a reporting service recently pinpointed a site 475km above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an analyst informed the service he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the site.

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