Moscow Confirms Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Weapon
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the nation's top military official.
"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the general informed President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capacity to evade defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in the previous year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since several years ago, based on an arms control campaign group.
Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.
He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were found to be up to specification, according to a local reporting service.
"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to evade defensive networks," the news agency reported the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.
A previous study by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."
Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the identical period, the nation faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts noted.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."
A military journal referenced in the study states the weapon has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to reach targets in the United States mainland."
The same journal also explains the projectile can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.
The projectile, referred to as Skyfall by a Western alliance, is considered driven by a atomic power source, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.
An inquiry by a media outlet the previous year identified a facility 475km from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.
Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an specialist informed the outlet he had detected nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.
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