Moscow Reports Effective Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik long-range missile, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a atomic-propelled weapon and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the general informed the head of state in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in recent years, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to avoid anti-missile technology.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having effectively trialed it.

The president said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in last year, but the claim could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had limited accomplishment since several years ago, based on an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the test on October 21.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were found to be meeting requirements, based on a domestic media outlet.

"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet quoted the general as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the subject of intense debate in defence and strategic sectors since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would offer Moscow a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

However, as an international strategic institute noted the same year, Russia confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its entry into the state's stockpile likely depends not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the study states the missile has a operational radius of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be based throughout the nation and still be able to strike goals in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also notes the weapon can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for aerial protection systems to engage.

The projectile, designated an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered driven by a reactor system, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.

An investigation by a reporting service last year identified a location 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing space-based photos from August 2024, an expert told the outlet he had observed multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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