Moscow Reports Successful Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the state's senior general.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the general informed the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade missile defences.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader stated the weapon was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be up to specification, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, the nation faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."

A military journal referenced in the analysis asserts the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be based across the country and still be able to target objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also notes the weapon can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for defensive networks to intercept.

The projectile, designated Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet recently pinpointed a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert informed the agency he had detected several deployment sites under construction at the facility.

Connected News

• President Authorizes Amendments to Strategic Guidelines