Russia Announces Successful Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the country's top military official.
"We have conducted a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the commander reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.
The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had limited accomplishment since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.
Gen Gerasimov stated the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the evaluation on the specified date.
He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were found to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.
"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent defensive networks," the media source stated the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in 2018.
A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank commented the corresponding time, the nation faces major obstacles in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.
"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in several deaths."
A armed forces periodical quoted in the analysis claims the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the projectile to be based across the country and still be capable to target objectives in the continental US."
The identical publication also explains the weapon can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.
The weapon, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the sky.
An investigation by a reporting service last year located a location 295 miles above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.
Using satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst told the outlet he had observed multiple firing positions being built at the location.
Connected News
- National Leader Approves Revisions to Nuclear Doctrine