Russia Confirms Accomplished Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Burevestnik Weapon

The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as reported by the state's senior general.

"We have launched a prolonged flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a vast distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader Valery Gerasimov informed the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The low-altitude advanced armament, originally disclosed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capability to evade defensive systems.

International analysts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Moscow's assertions of having successfully tested it.

The national leader declared that a "final successful test" of the missile had been conducted in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, only two had moderate achievement since 2016, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader reported the projectile was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the trial on the specified date.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, according to a national news agency.

"Therefore, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency quoted the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in the past decade.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would give Russia a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization noted the corresponding time, the nation faces considerable difficulties in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the country's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident leading to several deaths."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the analysis states the missile has a flight distance of between a substantial span, permitting "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be able to reach objectives in the American territory."

The same journal also explains the missile can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, causing complexity for defensive networks to engage.

The missile, code-named an operational name by a foreign security organization, is believed to be powered by a atomic power source, which is intended to activate after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the atmosphere.

An examination by a reporting service the previous year identified a location 295 miles north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an specialist reported to the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads being built at the facility.

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