Russia Announces Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the country's leading commander.

"We have launched a extended flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a vast distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov informed President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude advanced armament, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to avoid missile defences.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had partial success since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it displayed advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the subject of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a global defence think tank commented the corresponding time, Moscow faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists stated.

"There were numerous flight-test failures, and an incident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study states the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the missile to be based throughout the nation and still be equipped to reach goals in the American territory."

The same journal also says the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to engage.

The projectile, code-named an operational name by an international defence pact, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency recently pinpointed a location 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from the recent past, an expert told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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