Moscow Confirms Accomplished Trial of Reactor-Driven Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

The nation has evaluated the atomic-propelled Burevestnik cruise missile, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the limit," Senior Military Leader the commander told the Russian leader in a public appearance.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been portrayed as having a potentially unlimited range and the capacity to bypass defensive systems.

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

The president stated that a "final successful test" of the missile had been carried out in the previous year, but the assertion was not externally confirmed. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had partial success since 2016, based on an arms control campaign group.

The general stated the missile was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on the specified date.

He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.

"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to circumvent defensive networks," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in recent years.

A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would give Russia a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

Nonetheless, as a foreign policy research organization observed the corresponding time, Moscow confronts considerable difficulties in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile likely depends not only on overcoming the considerable technical challenge of ensuring the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," analysts wrote.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an incident leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication cited in the study asserts the weapon has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be deployed across the country and still be capable to reach objectives in the United States mainland."

The identical publication also explains the projectile can operate as at minimal altitude as a very low elevation above the earth, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, designated a specific moniker by an international defence pact, is believed to be driven by a reactor system, which is designed to activate after primary launch mechanisms have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency last year located a facility 295 miles north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.

Employing orbital photographs from August 2024, an specialist informed the agency he had observed nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.

Associated Updates

• Head of State Endorses Modifications to Nuclear Doctrine