Russia Reports Successful Test of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the state's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been held in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since several years ago, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the weapon was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the trial on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were found to be up to specification, according to a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet quoted the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, the nation confronts considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident leading to multiple fatalities."

A defence publication quoted in the report asserts the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be equipped to reach objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also notes the projectile can travel as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to stop.

The weapon, referred to as an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered powered by a reactor system, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have launched it into the sky.

An inquiry by a media outlet recently pinpointed a site 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Using orbital photographs from the recent past, an specialist informed the outlet he had observed several deployment sites under construction at the facility.

Associated Updates

• President Authorizes Modifications to Strategic Guidelines