Russia Announces Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the state's top military official.

"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The low-flying prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to avoid anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the missile was in the air for a significant duration during the test on October 21.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, as per a local reporting service.

"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

However, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, Russia encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap resulting in a number of casualties."

A defence publication referenced in the study claims the projectile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to target objectives in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the projectile can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, code-named a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An examination by a media outlet recently identified a site 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist informed the service he had observed multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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