Russia Reports Accomplished Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a vast distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude advanced armament, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The general stated the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, according to a local reporting service.

"As a result, it demonstrated superior performance to evade defensive networks," the outlet quoted the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in the past decade.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, the nation faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the country's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis claims the projectile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be capable to strike goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the sky.

An investigation by a news agency recently identified a location 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the armament.

Employing orbital photographs from the recent past, an specialist told the service he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the site.

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