Moscow Confirms Successful Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's top military official.

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the commander reported to President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, first announced in the past decade, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to bypass missile defences.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.

The military leader said the weapon was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the trial on the specified date.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were confirmed as meeting requirements, as per a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it exhibited advanced abilities to evade defensive networks," the news agency quoted the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Russia faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident resulting in several deaths."

A military journal quoted in the analysis claims the projectile has a range of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to target objectives in the American territory."

The corresponding source also says the missile can operate as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The projectile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An inquiry by a news agency last year identified a site 475km above the capital as the likely launch site of the armament.

Using orbital photographs from last summer, an specialist reported to the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions being built at the site.

Associated Updates

• Head of State Endorses Revisions to Nuclear Doctrine