Russia Confirms Effective Test of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the nation's top military official.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Top Army Official Valery Gerasimov reported to the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude prototype missile, initially revealed in 2018, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to avoid anti-missile technology.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in 2023, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov said the weapon was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the trial on 21 October.

He explained the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were tested and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a national news agency.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A recent analysis by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank observed the same year, Moscow encounters major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its induction into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts stated.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident causing several deaths."

A armed forces periodical cited in the study claims the projectile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to reach targets in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, rendering it challenging for aerial protection systems to stop.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is thought to be propelled by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year pinpointed a location 295 miles north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst told the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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