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

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the state's leading commander.

"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general reported to President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, originally disclosed in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade missile defences.

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

The national leader declared that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.

The general said the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on 21 October.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, based on a local reporting service.

"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

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

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the corresponding time, Moscow confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of securing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," experts stated.

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

A military journal referenced in the analysis states the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be based across the country and still be able to reach targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also explains the missile can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, designated an operational name by an international defence pact, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service last year pinpointed a site 295 miles above the capital as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.

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