Russia Reports Accomplished Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the state's leading commander.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the general informed the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-flying advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to avoid anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since several years ago, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the weapon was in the air for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were found to be up to specification, according to a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it demonstrated superior performance to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

However, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, the nation encounters significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the state's inventory arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."

A military journal quoted in the study asserts the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the weapon to be based across the country and still be equipped to strike targets in the continental US."

The corresponding source also explains the missile can fly as low as a very low elevation above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, code-named a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is thought to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the sky.

An examination by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a location 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an analyst informed the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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