Russia conducts successful test of new naval missile

The nuclear-capable Bulava intercontinental missile launch is the second successful firing this month after a string of failures that brought the programme to a halt for 10 months, the defence ministry said.

The missile was launched today from Dmitry Donskoy submarine in the White Sea in northwestern Russia, and hit the Kura firing area on the Kamchatka peninsula on the Pacific Ocean, 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) away.

The next test, 15th in all, will be carried out by the end of this year from the new Borei class Yuri Dolgoruky submarine, for which Bulava is being developed, Interfax reported.
The missile is designed for use with Russia's new Borei class of nuclear submarines like the Yury Dolgoruky and Alexander Nevsky.

Yuri Dolgoruky is scheduled to join Pacific Fleet in 2015," Igor Korotchenko, a top defence expert told Rossiya 24 channel.

The SLBM Bulava, along with Topol-M land-based ballistic missiles is expected become the mainstay of Russia's nuclear triad for next 30-40 years.

Yesterday, Russia carried out test launches of its two SLBMs 'Sineva' from the Barents Sea in the west and Sea of Okhotsk in the east and Topol mobile land base missile to extend their service life.

The Bulava, which can be equipped with up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 8,000 kilometres.