Russia Reports Effective Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon
Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the country's top military official.
"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.
The low-altitude experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.
The national leader stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been held in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had partial success since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.
The military leader said the missile was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.
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 exhibited superior performance to evade defensive networks," the outlet stated the commander as saying.
The projectile's application has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in 2018.
A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with intercontinental range capability."
Yet, as a global defence think tank noted the same year, Moscow encounters significant challenges in developing a functional system.
"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts wrote.
"There have been several flawed evaluations, and a mishap leading to a number of casualties."
A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis states the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the missile to be deployed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach targets in the continental US."
The identical publication also explains the projectile can travel as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for air defences to engage.
The missile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered powered by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the air.
An examination by a news agency recently identified a site 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the missile.
Using orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst reported to the outlet he had observed multiple firing positions being built at the site.
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