Russia Announces Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the nation's leading commander.

"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general informed President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to bypass defensive systems.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader said that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general reported the weapon was in the air for a significant duration during the trial on October 21.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were determined to be up to specification, according to a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet reported the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a singular system with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the corresponding time, the nation encounters major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the reliable performance of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an incident causing a number of casualties."

A defence publication referenced in the study asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the weapon to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to target targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as a very low elevation above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a media outlet last year identified a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.

Using space-based photos from August 2024, an analyst informed the outlet he had identified multiple firing positions being built at the facility.

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