Moscow Confirms Accomplished Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the nation's senior general.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official the commander informed the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The low-altitude prototype missile, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the weapon had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the air for fifteen hours during the evaluation on 21 October.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be complying with standards, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it demonstrated high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet reported the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a unique weapon with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the same year, Russia faces significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," analysts noted.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis states the weapon has a range of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be based throughout the nation and still be able to reach targets in the American territory."

The same journal also explains the weapon can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The weapon, code-named Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is thought to be propelled by a reactor system, which is supposed to engage after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.

An inquiry by a media outlet recently identified a location 475km from the city as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist told the service he had detected nine horizontal launch pads in development at the site.

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