Russia Confirms Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the country's leading commander.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander informed the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-flying experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to evade missile defences.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since several years ago, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

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

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it displayed superior performance to evade defensive networks," the outlet reported the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, Russia confronts considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the state's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A defence publication cited in the analysis asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be able to strike goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also explains the missile can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency last year located a facility 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an analyst told the service he had identified nine horizontal launch pads being built at the site.

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