Russia successfully test fires Bulava missiles
December 24th, 2011 - 12:31 am ICT by IANSMoscow, Dec 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia successfully test launched two intercontinental ballistic missiles Friday, defence officials said Friday.
The Bulava missiles were launched from the Borey-class Yury Dolgoruky nuclear-powered submarine in the White Sea and hit designated targets at the Kura test range on Kamchatka, some 6,000 km to the east, said Defence Ministry spokesman colonel Igor Konashenkov.
This was the troubled Bulava’s 18th test launch. Only 11 launches have been officially declared successful.
But some analysts suggest that in reality the number of failures is considerably larger.
Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer said that of the Bulava’s first 12 test launches, only one was entirely successful.
Despite several previous failures, officially blamed on manufacturing faults, the Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava.
The Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 km.
The three-stage ballistic missile is designed for deployment on Borey-class nuclear submarines.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
sd
- Bulava missile ready to be deployed - Dec 27, 2011
- Russia's n-powered submarine to enter service by June - Jan 21, 2012
- Russian charged with selling missile secrets - May 15, 2012
- Bulava missile dangerous for Russia: Experts - Feb 21, 2012
- Russian convicted of leaking military secrets - May 18, 2012
- Russian submarine test-fires ICBM - Oct 28, 2011
- Russia to resume tests of submarine-launched missile - Sep 03, 2010
- Russia test fires sub-launched missile - Jun 28, 2011
- Russia test-fires ballistic missile - Jul 28, 2011
- Russia tests ballistic missile - Aug 27, 2011
- Russian Navy working on 30-year development plan - Feb 06, 2012
- Russia to build balanced nuclear missile force by 2050 - Jul 26, 2009
- No plans to retire Russia's Typhoon class submarine - Sep 30, 2011
- Russia to build nuclear powered submarine in 2009 - Apr 09, 2009
- Russia's latest nuclear submarine to undergo more tests - Aug 03, 2009
Tags: ballistic missile, bulava missiles, colonel, defence ministry spokesman, defence officials, faults, intercontinental ballistic missiles, kamchatka, launches, military expert, mirv, nuclear submarines, pavel felgenhauer, ria novosti russia, slbm, submarine, test fires, test range, warheads, white sea