Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Weapon

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the nation's top military official.

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it traversed a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the limit," Top Army Official the commander told the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, first announced in recent years, has been described as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass missile defences.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the weapon's military utility and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been conducted in the previous year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since several years ago, as per an non-proliferation organization.

The military leader said the weapon was in the sky for a significant duration during the evaluation on the specified date.

He said the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were determined to be up to specification, based on a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it demonstrated high capabilities to bypass defensive networks," the news agency quoted the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was first announced in 2018.

A recent analysis by a American military analysis unit determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

Yet, as an international strategic institute noted the same year, Moscow confronts major obstacles in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the reliable performance of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap leading to multiple fatalities."

A military journal cited in the analysis states the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to strike goals in the United States mainland."

The same journal also says the missile can operate as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above the surface, making it difficult for defensive networks to stop.

The projectile, code-named Skyfall by an international defence pact, is thought to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to engage after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the sky.

An investigation by a news agency recently pinpointed a site 295 miles from the city as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Using satellite imagery from the recent past, an specialist told the outlet he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.

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