Moscow Reports Accomplished Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the state's top military official.

"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, first announced in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade missile defences.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, based on an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were found to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source reported the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a foreign policy research organization commented the identical period, Russia faces major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the country's stockpile likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an accident causing multiple fatalities."

A military journal referenced in the report claims the projectile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, allowing "the missile to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to target goals in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to intercept.

The weapon, designated Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the sky.

An inquiry by a media outlet recently identified a location 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert informed the service he had observed multiple firing positions under construction at the location.

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