Russia Confirms Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's top military official.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The low-flying prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade anti-missile technology.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The president said that a "final successful test" of the armament had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.

The military leader said the missile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on October 21.

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

"As a result, it demonstrated superior performance to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in recent years.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, the nation faces significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the state's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident causing a number of casualties."

A defence publication referenced in the study asserts the projectile has a range of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to target goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also explains the missile can fly as low as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.

The missile, designated an operational name by an international defence pact, is believed to be powered by a atomic power source, which is intended to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a news agency last year identified a location 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Using orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist informed the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads in development at the location.

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