Russia Reports Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as reported by the country's leading commander.

"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told the head of state in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude experimental weapon, originally disclosed in 2018, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade missile defences.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

The general stated the projectile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the trial on October 21.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be meeting requirements, according to a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it demonstrated advanced abilities to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The missile's utility has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

However, as an international strategic institute observed the identical period, Moscow faces major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts noted.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication quoted in the study states the weapon has a operational radius of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to strike goals in the continental US."

The identical publication also says the weapon can travel as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the surface, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The missile, referred to as Skyfall by an international defence pact, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a media outlet the previous year located a facility 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Utilizing space-based photos from August 2024, an expert informed the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.

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