Moscow Confirms Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the nation's senior general.

"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the general told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, first announced in the past decade, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to avoid anti-missile technology.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since several years ago, based on an arms control campaign group.

The general stated the weapon was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, as per a national news agency.

"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of intense debate in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A previous study by a foreign defence research body determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, the nation encounters considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident causing several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the study claims the projectile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to strike objectives in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also notes the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, rendering it challenging for air defences to stop.

The projectile, code-named a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is believed to be powered by a reactor system, which is supposed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a news agency last year identified a location a considerable distance from the city as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an specialist told the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.

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