Global Security Newswire

Analysts in Russia say the government might have erred in moving to place the submarine-launched Bulava ballistic missile into operations, the Indo-Asian News Service reported on Tuesday (see GSN, Jan. 3).

President Dmitry Medvedev in December said the missile had completed a series of flight trials and would be placed on active status. A presidential document formalizing his statement is set to be inked, the Kommersant newspaper quoted First Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Sukhorukov as saying.

Moscow has declared success in 11 of the missile's 19 trial launches, but some issue specialists said performance aberrations might have been significantly more frequent. Just one of the missile's initial 12 trials unfolded exactly as intended, Russian defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer has said.

Placing the missile into service is a "reckless" and "dangerous" decision, according to defense expert Viktor Baranets.

"In its current form, the missile could be even more dangerous for the (Russian) navy than for an enemy navy," he said.

The Bulava missile is intended to play a key future role in the Russian nuclear deterrent. It would be carried by new Borei-class submarines and have the capacity to be loaded with 10 warheads and fly roughly 5,000 miles (Indo-Asian News Service/Spacedaily.com, Feb. 21).