Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile
Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the country's top military official.
"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.
The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, initially revealed in 2018, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.
Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The head of state stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since several years ago, according to an non-proliferation organization.
Gen Gerasimov stated the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the trial on the specified date.
He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were tested and were confirmed as complying with standards, according to a local reporting service.
"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass defensive networks," the news agency quoted the official as saying.
The missile's utility has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in recent years.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
However, as a foreign policy research organization commented the corresponding time, the nation encounters major obstacles in achieving operational status.
"Its entry into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.
"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to multiple fatalities."
A defence publication quoted in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be based across the country and still be capable to target targets in the American territory."
The corresponding source also explains the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, rendering it challenging for air defences to stop.
The projectile, designated a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is thought to be driven by a reactor system, which is intended to engage after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the air.
An investigation by a news agency recently identified a facility 295 miles from the city as the probable deployment area of the armament.
Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an expert told the agency he had observed multiple firing positions being built at the location.
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