The nation has evaluated the nuclear-powered Burevestnik strategic weapon, as stated by the country's top military official.
"We have launched a prolonged flight of a reactor-driven projectile and it traversed a vast distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff the general reported to President Vladimir Putin in a broadcast conference.
The terrain-hugging advanced armament, initially revealed in recent years, has been portrayed as having a theoretically endless flight path and the capability to avoid missile defences.
Foreign specialists have previously cast doubt over the missile's strategic value and Moscow's assertions of having effectively trialed it.
The head of state declared that a "final successful test" of the armament had been carried out in last year, but the assertion could not be independently verified. Of at least 13 known tests, just two instances had limited accomplishment since 2016, according to an disarmament advocacy body.
The military leader said the weapon was in the sky for 15 hours during the trial on 21 October.
He noted the weapon's altitude and course adjustments were assessed and were determined to be meeting requirements, according to a domestic media outlet.
"As a result, it exhibited advanced abilities to circumvent defensive networks," the outlet quoted the general as saying.
The weapon's usefulness has been the topic of vigorous discussion in defence and strategic sectors since it was first announced in recent years.
A recent analysis by a US Air Force intelligence center stated: "A nuclear-powered cruise missile would provide the nation a singular system with global strike capacity."
Yet, as a foreign policy research organization commented the identical period, the nation faces major obstacles in making the weapon viable.
"Its integration into the country's arsenal likely depends not only on resolving the considerable technical challenge of guaranteeing the dependable functioning of the atomic power system," specialists noted.
"There have been several flawed evaluations, and a mishap resulting in multiple fatalities."
A defence publication cited in the report asserts the projectile has a operational radius of between 10,000 and 20,000km, enabling "the missile to be based throughout the nation and still be capable to reach objectives in the United States mainland."
The identical publication also explains the projectile can operate as low as a very low elevation above ground, causing complexity for aerial protection systems to engage.
The missile, designated Skyfall by an international defence pact, is thought to be driven by a atomic power source, which is supposed to engage after primary launch mechanisms have launched it into the air.
An investigation by a media outlet last year identified a location 475km from the city as the probable deployment area of the missile.
Utilizing space-based photos from August 2024, an analyst informed the agency he had detected nine horizontal launch pads under construction at the site.
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