Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik long-range missile, according to the country's senior general.
"We have conducted a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traveled a vast distance, which is not the maximum," Chief of General Staff the commander told President Vladimir Putin in a public appearance.
The low-flying prototype missile, originally disclosed in the past decade, has been hailed as having a possible global reach and the ability to evade defensive systems.
Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and the nation's statements of having accomplished its evaluation.
The president stated that a "concluding effective evaluation" of the weapon had been carried out in last year, but the statement was not externally confirmed. Of a minimum of thirteen documented trials, only two had partial success since the mid-2010s, based on an non-proliferation organization.
The military leader stated the missile was in the atmosphere for 15 hours during the test on 21 October.
He noted the projectile's ascent and directional control were evaluated and were confirmed as up to specification, as per a national news agency.
"Therefore, it exhibited high capabilities to bypass anti-missile and aerial protection," the media source quoted the general as saying.
The missile's utility has been the topic of intense debate in military and defence circles since it was initially revealed in 2018.
A previous study by a American military analysis unit stated: "An atomic-propelled strategic weapon would provide the nation a unique weapon with global strike capacity."
Nonetheless, as a global defence think tank commented the identical period, Moscow faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.
"Its induction into the state's arsenal potentially relies not only on overcoming the significant development hurdle of ensuring the reliable performance of the atomic power system," specialists noted.
"There were several flawed evaluations, and an accident leading to a number of casualties."
A armed forces periodical referenced in the analysis claims the missile has a flight distance of between 10,000 and 20,000km, permitting "the weapon to be stationed across the country and still be capable to reach targets in the United States mainland."
The identical publication also says the weapon can operate as at minimal altitude as 50 to 100 metres above the surface, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to stop.
The missile, code-named a specific moniker by a Western alliance, is believed to be driven by a nuclear reactor, which is intended to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have propelled it into the atmosphere.
An inquiry by a reporting service recently located a location 475km north of Moscow as the probable deployment area of the weapon.
Employing satellite imagery from last summer, an expert reported to the outlet he had detected nine horizontal launch pads being built at the location.
