Moscow Announces Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon
Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's senior general.
"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, originally disclosed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade anti-missile technology.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.
The head of state declared that a "final successful test" of the armament 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, as per an non-proliferation organization.
The general stated the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.
He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, as per a national news agency.
"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent defensive networks," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in recent years.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, Moscow encounters considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.
"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap resulting in several deaths."
A armed forces periodical cited in the analysis claims the weapon has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to target goals in the continental US."
The identical publication also says the weapon can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to intercept.
The missile, designated an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the sky.
An investigation by a news agency recently located a location a considerable distance north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.
Using satellite imagery from last summer, an expert informed the outlet he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.
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