Moscow Reports Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile
Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the nation's top military official.
"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the general informed the head of state in a televised meeting.
The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in recent years, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass missile defences.
Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.
The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been conducted in 2023, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an arms control campaign group.
Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the test on 21 October.
He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a local reporting service.
"Consequently, it exhibited high capabilities to evade defensive networks," the news agency reported the commander as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in the past decade.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."
However, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, the nation confronts considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts stated.
"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident leading to several deaths."
A defence publication quoted in the report claims the missile has a range of between a substantial span, enabling "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to target objectives in the American territory."
The identical publication also says the projectile can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to intercept.
The weapon, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.
An examination by a reporting service the previous year identified a facility a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the armament.
Using satellite imagery from last summer, an expert told the agency he had observed multiple firing positions in development at the site.
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