Moscow Announces Accomplished Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's top military official.

"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the general told the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, originally disclosed in recent years, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader said that a "final successful test" of the armament had been conducted in last year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, according to an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the test on October 21.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it displayed superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in recent years.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, Moscow encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," experts noted.

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

A defence publication referenced in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be based across the country and still be equipped to strike objectives in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the missile can travel as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be powered by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.

An investigation by a reporting service the previous year located a location a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing space-based photos from August 2024, an specialist informed the service he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the facility.

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