Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the country's top military official.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander informed President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade missile defences.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in 2023, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the missile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, the nation faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists wrote.

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

A military journal cited in the report claims the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, allowing "the missile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be capable to strike goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also notes the missile can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The weapon, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a reporting service recently identified a location 475km above the capital as the likely launch site of the armament.

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

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