Russia Confirms Successful Test of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Missile

Russia has tested the atomic-propelled Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's top military official.

"We have executed a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the general informed President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in 2018, has been portrayed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade missile defences.

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

The head of state said that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the missile had been carried out in 2023, but the claim was not externally confirmed. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had limited accomplishment since several years ago, according to an arms control campaign group.

The general reported the missile was in the sky for 15 hours during the test on the specified date.

He noted the missile's vertical and horizontal manoeuvring were evaluated and were determined to be complying with standards, based on a national news agency.

"Consequently, it displayed advanced abilities to evade missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the general as saying.

The missile's utility has been the focus of vigorous discussion in armed forces and security communities since it was initially revealed in 2018.

A previous study by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a unique weapon with intercontinental range capability."

However, as a global defence think tank commented the same year, Moscow confronts significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the state's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts stated.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and an accident resulting in several deaths."

A defence publication referenced in the study states the projectile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the projectile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be equipped to reach objectives in the American territory."

The corresponding source also explains the weapon can operate as close to the ground as 50 to 100 metres above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The projectile, referred to as Skyfall by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is designed to commence operation after initial propulsion units have sent it into the air.

An investigation by a news agency recently pinpointed a location a considerable distance above the capital as the probable deployment area of the missile.

Using space-based photos from the recent past, an analyst informed the service he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the site.

Related Developments

• Head of State Endorses Modifications to Atomic Policy