Moscow Announces Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon
Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the state'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," Top Army Official the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The low-flying prototype missile, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.
Gen Gerasimov stated the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on October 21.
He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to evade defensive networks," the outlet reported the official as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in recent years.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the identical period, Moscow confronts significant challenges in making the weapon viable.
"Its integration into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts stated.
"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap resulting in a number of casualties."
A military journal referenced in the report asserts the missile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be able to reach targets in the United States mainland."
The same journal also explains the weapon can operate as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.
The missile, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a reactor system, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a news agency the previous year pinpointed a location 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.
Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an specialist reported to the service he had observed several deployment sites under construction at the site.
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