Moscow Confirms Successful Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the general informed the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude advanced armament, initially revealed in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade missile defences.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The national leader declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been carried out in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the test on the specified date.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the media source quoted the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the corresponding time, Russia faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of securing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists wrote.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the missile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to strike targets in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also explains the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, designated Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service the previous year located a facility 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.

Using satellite imagery from last summer, an expert told the agency he had observed several deployment sites being built at the facility.

Related Developments

• National Leader Approves Modifications to Atomic Policy