Russia Confirms Effective Test of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile
Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the nation's senior general.
"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the maximum," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a public appearance.
The low-flying advanced armament, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to evade missile defences.
International analysts have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.
The head of state declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been held in 2023, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, according to an arms control campaign group.
The military leader said the missile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on October 21.
He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were confirmed as meeting requirements, as per a national news agency.
"As a result, it exhibited superior performance to evade missile and air defence systems," the media source quoted the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the subject of heated controversy in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in the past decade.
A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center determined: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."
Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization noted the corresponding time, Russia encounters significant challenges in achieving operational status.
"Its integration into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of securing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.
"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident causing a number of casualties."
A military journal quoted in the report asserts the missile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be capable to strike targets in the continental US."
The same journal also says the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to engage.
The projectile, referred to as Skyfall by an international defence pact, is thought to be powered by a reactor system, which is intended to commence operation after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the air.
An examination by a reporting service last year located a facility 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the armament.
Employing satellite imagery from August 2024, an expert told the agency he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.
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