Moscow Announces Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's top military official.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to avoid defensive systems.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the state's inventory potentially relies not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts wrote.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and a mishap resulting in multiple fatalities."

A defence publication referenced in the study claims the missile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach objectives in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also explains the missile can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The weapon, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is believed to be propelled by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a news agency recently pinpointed a location 295 miles above the capital as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an expert informed the agency he had detected several deployment sites being built at the facility.

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