Moscow Announces Accomplished Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade defensive systems.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on October 21.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were found to be up to specification, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, the nation confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the country's inventory arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap leading to a number of casualties."

A military journal referenced in the analysis claims the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be based across the country and still be able to strike objectives in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the weapon can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, designated Skyfall by an international defence pact, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a news agency last year pinpointed a location a considerable distance from the city as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Using satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst reported to the agency he had detected several deployment sites being built at the site.

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