Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a public appearance.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Moscow's assertions of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on October 21.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were determined to be meeting requirements, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated superior performance to evade defensive networks," the media source reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow confronts major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the country's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."

A military journal quoted in the report claims the projectile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to target objectives in the continental US."

The identical publication also explains the weapon can fly as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above ground, making it difficult for air defences to intercept.

The missile, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to activate after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet recently pinpointed a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an specialist reported to the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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