Moscow Confirms Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the country's senior general.

"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to evade anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have earlier expressed skepticism over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in last year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, based on an disarmament advocacy body.

The general said the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as complying with standards, based on a national news agency.

"As a result, it exhibited high capabilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the outlet quoted the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in the past decade.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the corresponding time, Moscow encounters major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its entry into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," specialists wrote.

"There have been several flawed evaluations, and an accident resulting in several deaths."

A military journal quoted in the study claims the projectile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the missile to be stationed anywhere in Russia and still be capable to target objectives in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the projectile can operate as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, making it difficult for air defences to stop.

The projectile, designated an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to activate after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.

An investigation by a reporting service recently identified a site a considerable distance from the city as the probable deployment area of the armament.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst informed the agency he had observed several deployment sites being built at the location.

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