Russia Reports Effective Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's leading commander.
"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the general reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The terrain-hugging advanced armament, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity 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 president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.
Gen Gerasimov stated the projectile was in the air for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.
He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a national news agency.
"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.
The projectile's application has been the topic of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.
A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the corresponding time, Russia faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the state's stockpile potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists stated.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."
A armed forces periodical quoted in the report states the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the projectile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be able to strike targets in the United States mainland."
The identical publication also notes the weapon can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.
The weapon, designated an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.
An inquiry by a media outlet the previous year located a facility 295 miles above the capital as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an analyst told the agency he had observed several deployment sites in development at the site.
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