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

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the country's top military official.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capability to avoid defensive systems.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had partial success since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the evaluation on the specified date.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, as per a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the media source reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in recent years.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Russia faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists noted.

"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing several deaths."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis asserts the weapon has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be capable to target targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can operate as close to the ground as a very low elevation above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is thought to be propelled by a reactor system, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.

An examination by a media outlet recently pinpointed a facility 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the weapon.

Employing space-based photos from the recent past, an expert told the service he had identified nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the site.

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