Moscow Announces Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Weapon

Moscow has trialed the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's leading commander.

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-flying advanced armament, first announced in the past decade, has been described as having a possible global reach and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Foreign specialists have in the past questioned over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The head of state stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader stated the projectile was in the air for 15 hours during the evaluation on the specified date.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be complying with standards, as per a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the outlet reported the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization observed the identical period, Moscow faces major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the reliable performance of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an accident causing multiple fatalities."

A defence publication referenced in the report claims the projectile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to target goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also explains the weapon can travel as low as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The projectile, referred to as a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be driven by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service recently pinpointed a site 295 miles from the city as the likely launch site of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from last summer, an analyst told the service he had detected several deployment sites being built at the site.

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