Moscow Confirms Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's senior general.

"We have launched a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to bypass anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament 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 the mid-2010s, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

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

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

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

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, Russia confronts considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to several deaths."

A defence publication quoted in the analysis asserts the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be able to strike targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also says the missile can fly as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to stop.

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

An investigation by a news agency last year identified a site 475km above the capital as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an expert reported to the agency he had observed several deployment sites in development at the site.

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