Russia to Test New Strategic Missile

Russia plans to test a new submarine-launched ballistic missile this summer, ITAR-Tass reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 18, 2004).

The next-generation Bulava would be capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads and would have a maximum range of at least 8,000 kilometers, according to ITAR-Tass.

“In spite of the rather serious difficulties, caused by financing delays, we shall do our best to carry out the first launching in the third quarter of the year,” said Yuri Solomonov, director of the Moscow Combustion Engineering Institute, where the missile was designed.

Past reports have indicated that the missile was already flight-tested (see GSN, Nov. 2, 2004), but those tests were limited to verifying that the missile could be ejected safely from a submerged submarine before igniting its engine, according to ITAR-Tass (ITAR-Tass, March 28).

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