Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile
The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's top military official.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.
The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in 2018, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade missile defences.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.
The president stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had partial success since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.
The general stated the projectile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on 21 October.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it displayed advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the general as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was first announced in the past decade.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, Russia faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts stated.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident resulting in several deaths."
A military journal referenced in the analysis states the missile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the weapon to be based across the country and still be capable to reach objectives in the American territory."
The corresponding source also explains the weapon can operate as low as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.
The missile, code-named a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the sky.
An inquiry by a reporting service last year located a location 475km north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.
Using satellite imagery from August 2024, an expert reported to the service he had identified several deployment sites under construction at the site.
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