Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Weapon
The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the nation's senior general.
"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a public appearance.
The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to avoid missile defences.
Western experts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.
Gen Gerasimov said the missile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on the specified date.
He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a local reporting service.
"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.
A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."
Yet, as a global defence think tank noted the corresponding time, the nation encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists stated.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident resulting in a number of casualties."
A military journal cited in the study states the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to target objectives in the continental US."
The same journal also explains the weapon can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.
The weapon, referred to as a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is considered driven by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.
An inquiry by a media outlet the previous year located a site 475km from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.
Using satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist told the outlet he had detected several deployment sites under construction at the location.
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