Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's top military official.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying advanced armament, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The national leader said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had partial success since several years ago, according to an non-proliferation organization.

The general reported the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the test on the specified date.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the media source stated the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap causing multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the report states the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the weapon to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to reach goals in the continental US."

The same journal also notes the weapon can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to engage.

The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year identified a site 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Using orbital photographs from last summer, an expert informed the service he had observed several deployment sites being built at the site.

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