Moscow Confirms Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Missile

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

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the commander told the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-flying advanced armament, initially revealed in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to bypass missile defences.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "final successful test" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had partial success since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the sky for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the nation's arsenal potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists stated.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical cited in the report states the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be based across the country and still be capable to target goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The weapon, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet the previous year pinpointed a location a considerable distance above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.

Using orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert reported to the agency he had detected multiple firing positions in development at the location.

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