Moscow Announces Accomplished Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Weapon

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's senior general.

"We have conducted a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the commander informed President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range 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 head of state stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, according to an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the missile was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, based on a local reporting service.

"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank noted the corresponding time, Russia confronts considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," specialists stated.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication referenced in the study states the missile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the weapon to be based across the country and still be equipped to target goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the projectile can operate as low as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for defensive networks to intercept.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a news agency last year pinpointed a site a considerable distance above the capital as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Using space-based photos from the recent past, an expert reported to the service he had observed multiple firing positions being built at the location.

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