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

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The low-altitude advanced armament, initially revealed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade anti-missile technology.

International analysts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.

The head of state stated that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov reported the projectile was in the sky for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were found to be up to specification, based on a local reporting service.

"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to bypass defensive networks," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, the nation confronts considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," experts wrote.

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

A armed forces periodical cited in the analysis states the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, enabling "the missile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to reach targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also explains the missile can travel as low as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is thought to be propelled by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the sky.

An examination by a news agency last year located a facility a considerable distance from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from August 2024, an expert told the service he had identified multiple firing positions being built at the location.

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