Russia Confirms Successful Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's leading commander.
"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander informed the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-flying experimental weapon, originally disclosed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.
Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the armament had been carried out in 2023, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, according to an non-proliferation organization.
Gen Gerasimov reported the missile was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the evaluation on October 21.
He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were confirmed as meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.
"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.
The projectile's application has been the subject of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in the past decade.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident causing a number of casualties."
A defence publication cited in the study asserts the missile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be equipped to reach targets in the American territory."
The same journal also says the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.
The missile, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the atmosphere.
An investigation by a reporting service the previous year located a location 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.
Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an expert reported to the agency he had identified several deployment sites under construction at the site.
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