Moscow Announces Accomplished Trial of Nuclear-Powered Storm Petrel Cruise Missile

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

"We have executed a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Chief of General Staff the general told the head of state in a broadcast conference.

The low-altitude advanced armament, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the capability to evade anti-missile technology.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the weapon's military utility and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.

The president said that a "last accomplished trial" of the weapon had been held in 2023, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of at least 13 known tests, merely a pair had partial success since the mid-2010s, as per an disarmament advocacy body.

The general reported the weapon was in the air for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.

He said the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be up to specification, based on a local reporting service.

"As a result, it demonstrated high capabilities to circumvent anti-missile and aerial protection," the news agency stated the general as saying.

The projectile's application has been the focus of vigorous discussion in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "A reactor-driven long-range projectile would give Russia a singular system with intercontinental range capability."

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

"Its induction into the country's stockpile arguably hinges not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of securing the consistent operation of the nuclear-propulsion unit," specialists noted.

"There occurred numerous flight-test failures, and a mishap causing several deaths."

A armed forces periodical referenced in the report asserts the weapon has a flight distance of between 6,200 and 12,400 miles, enabling "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be able to target objectives in the American territory."

The same journal also says the projectile can fly as at minimal altitude as 164 to 328 feet above ground, making it difficult for defensive networks to stop.

The missile, designated an operational name by an international defence pact, is thought to be propelled by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to commence operation after solid fuel rocket boosters have sent it into the air.

An examination by a media outlet the previous year located a facility a considerable distance from the city as the possible firing point of the weapon.

Using space-based photos from August 2024, an analyst reported to the outlet he had detected multiple firing positions under construction at the facility.

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