Moscow Reports Successful Evaluation of Atomic-Propelled Storm Petrel Missile

Moscow has trialed the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, as reported by the country's leading commander.

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

The low-flying experimental weapon, originally disclosed in recent years, has been hailed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capacity to avoid missile defences.

Western experts have in the past questioned over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president said that a "final successful test" of the armament had been conducted in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The military leader stated the projectile was in the air for 15 hours during the evaluation on October 21.

He explained the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a national news agency.

"Consequently, it displayed high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the outlet reported the commander as saying.

The projectile's application has been the subject of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with worldwide reach potential."

However, as a foreign policy research organization observed the corresponding time, the nation confronts major obstacles in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the country's arsenal likely depends not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," experts noted.

"There occurred several flawed evaluations, and an accident leading to multiple fatalities."

A armed forces periodical quoted in the analysis claims the missile has a operational radius of between a substantial span, permitting "the weapon to be stationed throughout the nation and still be capable to target targets in the American territory."

The corresponding source also says the weapon can fly as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to intercept.

The projectile, code-named an operational name by a Western alliance, is considered propelled by a reactor system, which is designed to commence operation after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the sky.

An investigation by a reporting service the previous year located a site 475km north of Moscow as the likely launch site of the armament.

Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an expert told the outlet he had identified several deployment sites under construction at the site.

Related Developments

• National Leader Approves Modifications to Atomic Policy