Moscow Confirms Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon
Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the state's top military official.
"We have executed a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.
The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to bypass defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The national leader stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in the previous year, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an non-proliferation organization.
The military leader said the projectile was in the air for a significant duration during the test on 21 October.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, as per a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the general as saying.
The projectile's application has been the focus of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.
A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a global defence think tank observed the identical period, Moscow encounters significant challenges in achieving operational status.
"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.
"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."
A armed forces periodical quoted in the study states the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be based across the country and still be equipped to target targets in the American territory."
The same journal also says the missile can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for air defences to engage.
The missile, code-named Skyfall by a Western alliance, is thought to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to engage after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the sky.
An examination by a reporting service the previous year identified a facility a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an expert informed the agency he had identified several deployment sites under construction at the location.
Connected News
- President Authorizes Amendments to Strategic Guidelines
