Moscow Confirms Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile

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

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in recent years, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state declared that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had partial success since the mid-2010s, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader said the weapon was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were determined to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the media source stated the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the identical period, Moscow confronts significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the nation's inventory arguably hinges not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to several deaths."

A military journal cited in the study states the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be stationed throughout the nation and still be able to reach objectives in the United States mainland."

The same journal also explains the missile can travel as low as a very low elevation above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The weapon, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service recently identified a location 475km above the capital as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert informed the outlet he had detected nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the site.

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