Moscow Confirms Accomplished Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the general informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade missile defences.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The president stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been carried out in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The general stated the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were confirmed as complying with standards, based on a national news agency.

"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in recent years.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

However, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, Russia confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the nation's inventory arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts stated.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing a number of casualties."

A armed forces periodical cited in the analysis asserts the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, enabling "the weapon to be deployed across the country and still be capable to strike targets in the United States mainland."

The same journal also explains the projectile can fly as low as a very low elevation above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, designated a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is supposed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a news agency the previous year identified a site 475km from the city as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Using space-based photos from August 2024, an specialist told the agency he had identified several deployment sites in development at the site.

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