Russia Reports Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's leading commander.

"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-flying experimental weapon, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had partial success since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

Gen Gerasimov stated the missile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the test on the specified date.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it demonstrated advanced abilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet quoted the official 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 the past decade.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, Moscow encounters major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study states the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, enabling "the weapon to be based throughout the nation and still be able to strike objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also says the missile can travel as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, making it difficult for defensive networks to engage.

The projectile, referred to as Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a reactor system, which is supposed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the sky.

An investigation by a media outlet last year pinpointed a location 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the missile.

Using space-based photos from the recent past, an specialist informed the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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