Moscow Confirms Effective Evaluation of Reactor-Driven Burevestnik Weapon

Russia has tested the reactor-driven Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the state's senior general.

"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it covered a 8,700-mile distance, which is not the ultimate range," Senior Military Leader the general informed President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.

The terrain-hugging advanced armament, first announced in the past decade, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the ability to bypass anti-missile technology.

Western experts have earlier expressed skepticism over the projectile's tactical importance and the nation's statements of having successfully tested it.

The president declared that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the statement lacked outside validation. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, just two instances had moderate achievement since the mid-2010s, according to an disarmament advocacy body.

Gen Gerasimov reported the weapon was in the atmosphere for fifteen hours during the evaluation on October 21.

He said the projectile's ascent and directional control were tested and were confirmed as meeting requirements, based on a national news agency.

"Consequently, it demonstrated advanced abilities to circumvent missile and air defence systems," the news agency reported the commander as saying.

The weapon's usefulness has been the focus of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was originally disclosed in 2018.

A 2021 report by a US Air Force intelligence center concluded: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would offer Moscow a distinctive armament with intercontinental range capability."

However, as an international strategic institute commented the same year, Russia faces significant challenges in making the weapon viable.

"Its integration into the state's inventory likely depends not only on surmounting the substantial engineering obstacle of ensuring the consistent operation of the atomic power system," analysts wrote.

"There were multiple unsuccessful trials, and a mishap leading to multiple fatalities."

A defence publication referenced in the report claims the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be stationed across the country and still be equipped to target goals in the American territory."

The same journal also says the missile can fly as close to the ground as 164 to 328 feet above the earth, causing complexity for air defences to engage.

The projectile, referred to as an operational name by a foreign security organization, is considered propelled by a atomic power source, which is designed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have propelled it into the atmosphere.

An investigation by a reporting service the previous year pinpointed a site 475km north of Moscow as the possible firing point of the missile.

Utilizing orbital photographs from August 2024, an analyst told the outlet he had identified nine horizontal launch pads in development at the facility.

Connected News

• President Authorizes Modifications to Nuclear Doctrine