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

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

"We have executed a prolonged flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to bypass defensive systems.

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

The national leader said that a "final successful test" of the missile had been carried out in last year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had moderate achievement since 2016, as per an non-proliferation organization.

Gen Gerasimov reported the missile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on 21 October.

He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were evaluated and were found to be up to specification, as per a domestic media outlet.

"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to bypass missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with global strike capacity."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization commented the identical period, Russia confronts considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its induction into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of securing the dependable functioning of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.

"There have been numerous flight-test failures, and an incident causing a number of casualties."

A military journal quoted in the analysis states the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be capable to reach targets in the continental US."

The same journal also notes the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, making it difficult for defensive networks to stop.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is supposed to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a media outlet recently identified a location 295 miles above the capital as the likely launch site of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from the recent past, an analyst told the service he had identified several deployment sites being built at the site.

Related Developments

• National Leader Approves Amendments to Strategic Guidelines