Russia Announces Accomplished Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the nation's top military official.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the general informed the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, originally disclosed in 2018, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to bypass missile defences.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been held in last year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, based on an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the test on October 21.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the news agency reported the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a global defence think tank observed the corresponding time, Moscow confronts major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap causing a number of casualties."

A military journal cited in the report states the missile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be able to target goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also explains the missile can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The missile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a site 475km from the city as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst informed the outlet he had observed multiple firing positions in development at the facility.

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