Russia Reports Successful Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the state's senior general.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general told the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-flying experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The national leader stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been carried out in 2023, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader stated the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on the specified date.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.

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

The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, Russia confronts significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's stockpile potentially relies not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts stated.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study claims the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be based throughout the nation and still be capable to reach goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also explains the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for air defences to stop.

The weapon, referred to as Skyfall by an international defence pact, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is intended to engage after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year identified a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert reported to the agency he had detected multiple firing positions being built at the facility.

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