Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile
The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the country's senior general.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.
The low-flying prototype missile, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to avoid defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The national leader stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in 2023, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.
The general said the weapon was in the sky for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.
He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were found to be complying with standards, according to a national news agency.
"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet stated the commander as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in recent years.
A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, Moscow faces significant challenges in achieving operational status.
"Its induction into the nation's arsenal potentially relies not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists noted.
"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident leading to several deaths."
A defence publication referenced in the study states the missile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the missile to be deployed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike goals in the American territory."
The same journal also says the projectile can fly as low as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.
The weapon, designated Skyfall by an international defence pact, is thought to be driven by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.
An inquiry by a media outlet last year pinpointed a facility 475km from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.
Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an analyst reported to the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the site.
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