Russia Announces Accomplished Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Weapon
Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's top military official.
"We have launched a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader the general told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to avoid defensive systems.
Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.
The president stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been held in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since 2016, based on an arms control campaign group.
The military leader reported the missile was in the air for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.
He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, based on a domestic media outlet.
"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet quoted the commander as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the identical period, the nation confronts considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts noted.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap causing several deaths."
A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis asserts the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to target goals in the American territory."
The identical publication also notes the missile can fly as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, causing complexity for air defences to intercept.
The weapon, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.
An investigation by a reporting service recently located a facility 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.
Employing satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist reported to the service he had identified multiple firing positions in development at the facility.
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