Moscow Confirms Successful Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the atomic-propelled Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the state's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov told the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having successfully tested it.

The head of state said that a "last accomplished trial" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had limited accomplishment since the mid-2010s, as per an arms control campaign group.

Gen Gerasimov said the projectile was in the sky for a significant duration during the trial on the specified date.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it displayed superior performance to evade defensive networks," the news agency quoted the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as a global defence think tank observed the corresponding time, Russia confronts significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the country's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of securing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.

"There have been multiple unsuccessful trials, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication cited in the analysis claims the weapon has a flight distance of between a substantial span, allowing "the weapon to be based anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to target targets in the continental US."

The identical publication also notes the projectile can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to engage.

The missile, designated a specific moniker by a foreign security organization, is considered powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.

An examination by a news agency recently pinpointed a location 295 miles above the capital as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Employing satellite imagery from August 2024, an analyst informed the service he had identified several deployment sites in development at the facility.

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