Moscow Reports Accomplished Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile
Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's top military official.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade missile defences.
International analysts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.
The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.
Gen Gerasimov stated the projectile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the evaluation on October 21.
He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were found to be complying with standards, according to a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it displayed high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the outlet reported the general as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the subject 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 reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
However, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the country's stockpile potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts wrote.
"There were several flawed evaluations, and an incident causing a number of casualties."
A military journal cited in the study claims the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be stationed across the country and still be able to reach targets in the continental US."
The corresponding source also notes the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, making it difficult for air defences to intercept.
The projectile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered driven by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.
An investigation by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a site a considerable distance from the city as the possible firing point of the missile.
Employing space-based photos from last summer, an specialist told the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.
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