Russia Confirms Accomplished Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile

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

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the general told the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to avoid missile defences.

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

The head of state stated that a "final successful test" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the test on 21 October.

He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass defensive networks," the media source stated the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a global defence think tank observed the identical period, Russia faces considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," specialists wrote.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and an accident causing a number of casualties."

A military journal cited in the analysis asserts the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be based anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike objectives in the American territory."

The identical publication also says the weapon can travel as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service last year pinpointed a site 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert told the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.

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