Russia Confirms Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's top military official.
"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the commander reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.
The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been described as having a possible global reach and the capability to avoid missile defences.
International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.
The head of state stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had partial success since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.
The general said the missile was in the air for a significant duration during the trial on October 21.
He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, according to a local reporting service.
"As a result, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet quoted the official as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in recent years.
A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a singular system with global strike capacity."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the identical period, Moscow confronts significant challenges in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists noted.
"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing several deaths."
A military journal quoted in the study asserts the weapon has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to strike targets in the continental US."
The corresponding source also explains the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for air defences to engage.
The missile, designated Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a reactor system, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year identified a location 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert informed the agency he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the site.
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