Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Weapon

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's top military official.

"We have conducted a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov informed the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to bypass defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the armament had been conducted in the previous year, but the assertion lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, merely a pair had moderate achievement since several years ago, based on an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov said the missile was in the sky for fifteen hours during the test on the specified date.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.

"As a result, it displayed superior performance to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the media source reported the official as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a singular system with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, Russia faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.

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

A military journal cited in the report asserts the projectile has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, permitting "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be capable to strike objectives in the continental US."

The same journal also says the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to stop.

The projectile, designated an operational name by an international defence pact, is considered powered by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a reporting service last year identified a site a considerable distance north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.

Utilizing space-based photos from last summer, an analyst told the service he had identified several deployment sites being built at the location.

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