Russia has successfully test launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan. President Dmitry Medvedev hailed the two test launches on Friday a success following years of failed attempts.
The missile and will now be adopted for service with the Russian Navy, he said.
Defence Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval told Ria Novosti: ‘The goal of the test launch is to prove the stability and basic technical characteristics of missiles of this kind.’
The Bulava ICBM, is a three-stage RS-18 missile that can carry up to 10 individually targeted warheads at a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).
The missile has however suffered a string of mishaps during failed tests that dragged on for years, raising doubts about the future of the most expensive military project in the nation’s post-Soviet history.
The launches on Friday were the 18th and 19th test launches of the troubled Bulava.
Only 11 launches have been officially declared successful.
The Bulava ICBM, pictured, is a three-stage RS-18 missile that can carry up to 10 individually targeted warheads at a range of 8,000 kilometers
Russian officials have billed the new missile as a new-generation weapon, capable of escaping any potential missile defences, thanks to its quick start and ability to perform unusual maneuvers in flight.
It would replace Soviet-built missiles approaching the end of their service lifetimes.
The Russian Navy also has finished building the first of a new series of nuclear-powered submarines to be armed with the new missile, the Yuri Dolgoruky.
Several other such submarines are under construction.
The two Bulava ICBMs were test launched at the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan, picturedThe Russian Strategic Missile Forces are considering the possibility of extending the RS-18 missiles’ service term by one year to 33 years, Mr Medvedev added.
In late November Mr Medvedev ordered a series of steps intended to strengthen Russia’s missile defense capabilities in response to U.S.-European missile shield plans.
Those plans include a possible deployment of Iskander tactical missiles near Russia’s Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad ‘in the near future.’
Russia is seeking written, legally binding guarantees that the U.S. missile shield will not be directed against it.
Washington, however, has refused to provide those guarantees to Moscow and said it will not alter its missile defence plans.
