Russia Confirms Accomplished Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the country's top military official.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the general reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass defensive systems.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The president said that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The general said the projectile was in the air for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a singular system with global strike capacity."

Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, Russia confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the country's inventory potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical cited in the report asserts the projectile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be capable to reach goals in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also explains the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a reactor system, which is designed to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service recently located a location 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist informed the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the facility.

Connected News

• Head of State Endorses Revisions to Strategic Guidelines