Moscow Announces Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Missile

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

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Top Army Official the general told the Russian leader in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, originally disclosed in recent years, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to evade defensive systems.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been held in 2023, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had partial success since 2016, as per an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the test on 21 October.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, based on a national news agency.

"Consequently, it exhibited superior performance to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source stated the official as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a singular system with worldwide reach potential."

Yet, as an international strategic institute observed the same year, the nation faces major obstacles in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the significant development hurdle of ensuring the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

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

A military journal quoted in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, allowing "the weapon to be deployed across the country and still be equipped to reach goals in the continental US."

The corresponding source also notes the weapon can travel as close to the ground as a very low elevation above the earth, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to intercept.

The missile, code-named a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be driven by a reactor system, which is intended to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the sky.

An examination by a reporting service recently pinpointed a facility 295 miles above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an analyst reported to the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the location.

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