Russia Confirms Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the state's senior general.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a televised meeting.
The low-altitude advanced armament, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade missile defences.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.
The head of state declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in 2023, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had partial success since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.
The military leader stated the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were determined to be complying with standards, as per a local reporting service.
"Therefore, it displayed advanced abilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet stated the commander as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in the past decade.
A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank observed the corresponding time, Moscow encounters significant challenges in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the nation's inventory potentially relies not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists noted.
"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an accident resulting in multiple fatalities."
A military journal quoted in the study asserts the projectile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the weapon to be stationed throughout the nation and still be equipped to target targets in the United States mainland."
The corresponding source also notes the projectile can travel as low as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.
The weapon, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a reactor system, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a reporting service last year located a site 295 miles from the city as the probable deployment area of the weapon.
Employing orbital photographs from last summer, an expert informed the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions being built at the location.
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