Russia Confirms Effective Test of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader stated the weapon was in the air for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, the nation faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the country's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts noted.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and a mishap resulting in a number of casualties."

A defence publication referenced in the analysis states the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the weapon to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, referred to as Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a site 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Using orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert reported to the service he had observed multiple firing positions in development at the site.

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