Russia Confirms Successful Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's leading commander.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to avoid defensive systems.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general said the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the test on 21 October.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were determined to be up to specification, based on a national news agency.

"As a result, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet quoted the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the identical period, the nation confronts major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an accident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the analysis states the missile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the weapon to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also explains the missile can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The projectile, code-named a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the sky.

An inquiry by a media outlet last year located a location 475km above the capital as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from August 2024, an analyst told the service he had identified several deployment sites in development at the location.

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