Moscow Announces Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the state's leading commander.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander reported to the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been conducted in the previous year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the sky for fifteen hours during the evaluation on October 21.

He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were found to be meeting requirements, as per a local reporting service.

"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source stated the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, the nation confronts significant challenges in achieving operational status.

"Its entry into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of securing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts wrote.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A military journal referenced in the report states the projectile has a range of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the projectile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to target goals in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the missile can fly as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The weapon, referred to as Skyfall by an international defence pact, is believed to be propelled by a atomic power source, which is intended to engage after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.

An inquiry by a news agency recently located a facility 295 miles from the city as the possible firing point of the armament.

Using orbital photographs from the recent past, an specialist told the service he had identified several deployment sites in development at the location.

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