Russia Reports Successful Evaluation of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Missile

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik cruise missile, according to the country's senior general.

"We have launched a extended flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to the Russian leader in a televised meeting.

The terrain-hugging prototype missile, initially revealed in the past decade, has been described as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to evade missile defences.

International analysts have in the past questioned over the projectile's tactical importance and Russian claims of having accomplished its evaluation.

The national leader stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had moderate achievement since several years ago, as per an arms control campaign group.

The military leader reported the missile was in the atmosphere for a significant duration during the evaluation on October 21.

He explained the projectile's ascent and directional control were assessed and were confirmed as meeting requirements, based on a local reporting service.

"Therefore, it exhibited superior performance to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency quoted the official as saying.

The projectile's application has been the topic of heated controversy in armed forces and security communities since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a foreign defence research body determined: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."

However, as a foreign policy research organization noted the same year, Moscow faces considerable difficulties in achieving operational status.

"Its integration into the nation's stockpile potentially relies not only on overcoming the substantial engineering obstacle of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the reactor drive mechanism," analysts noted.

"There occurred multiple unsuccessful trials, and an incident causing multiple fatalities."

A defence publication cited in the study claims the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be deployed across the country and still be able to reach targets in the United States mainland."

The corresponding source also says the projectile can travel as low as a very low elevation above the earth, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.

The weapon, designated Skyfall by a foreign security organization, is believed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is designed to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.

An inquiry by a news agency the previous year pinpointed a location 295 miles north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the armament.

Using space-based photos from last summer, an specialist informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.

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