Moscow Confirms Effective Trial of Atomic-Propelled Burevestnik Cruise Missile

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, according to the state's top military official.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a 14,000km distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging experimental weapon, initially revealed in recent years, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Western experts have previously cast doubt over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having effectively trialed it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been held in 2023, but the claim lacked outside validation. Of over a dozen recorded evaluations, just two instances had partial success since several years ago, based on an non-proliferation organization.

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

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

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

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was first announced in 2018.

A 2021 report by a American military analysis unit concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

Yet, as a foreign policy research organization noted the corresponding time, Moscow faces significant challenges in developing a functional system.

"Its integration into the nation's arsenal arguably hinges not only on surmounting the significant development hurdle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," experts wrote.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap leading to a number of casualties."

A defence publication quoted in the study states the weapon has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be deployed throughout the nation and still be able to reach objectives in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also says the missile can fly as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above ground, rendering it challenging for defensive networks to intercept.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a atomic power source, which is designed to engage after initial propulsion units have propelled it into the sky.

An inquiry by a news agency last year pinpointed a facility 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Utilizing satellite imagery from August 2024, an expert informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the facility.

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