Russia Announces Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the nation's leading commander.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the commander reported to President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in the previous year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an arms control campaign group.

The general said the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source reported the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the country's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the reliable performance of the atomic power system," experts stated.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap resulting in multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study asserts the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the projectile to be based throughout the nation and still be equipped to target targets in the American territory."

The identical publication also notes the projectile can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The projectile, referred to as Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.

An examination by a media outlet last year pinpointed a location 475km north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an specialist told the service he had identified multiple firing positions under construction at the site.

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