Moscow Announces Effective Trial of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the country's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade missile defences.

Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The national leader declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, according to an non-proliferation organization.

The general said the weapon was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a national news agency.

"As a result, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with global strike capacity."

Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the corresponding time, the nation confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on surmounting the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists noted.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident resulting in several deaths."

A defence publication referenced in the study claims the missile has a range of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be equipped to reach goals in the American territory."

The same journal also notes the missile can travel as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is believed to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the sky.

An investigation by a reporting service the previous year identified a site a considerable distance from the city as the possible firing point of the missile.

Using space-based photos from last summer, an expert reported to the outlet he had identified several deployment sites in development at the location.

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