Russia Announces Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's leading commander.
"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander informed the head of state in a public appearance.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass missile defences.
Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.
The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been conducted in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, based on an arms control campaign group.
Gen Gerasimov reported the missile was in the air for a significant duration during the test on October 21.
He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet stated the general as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.
A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, the nation confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.
"Its integration into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident leading to several deaths."
A military journal referenced in the study asserts the weapon has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be based throughout the nation and still be able to strike goals in the continental US."
The identical publication also explains the weapon can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.
The weapon, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be driven by a reactor system, which is intended to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.
An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a facility 475km above the capital as the probable deployment area of the armament.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert informed the outlet he had observed several deployment sites under construction at the location.
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