The Sevmashpredpriyatiye shipbuilding plant is nearing completion of the first Project 955 strategic submarine, Yuri Dolgorukiy. Fleet Admiral Vladimir Masorin, the Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy, has said that flight tests of the Bulava missile, which will be deployed on new submarines, will resume in June 2007.
According to the Russian deputy defence minister, Russia will conduct a scheduled flight test of a Bulava sea-launched ballistic missile in the next two months.
"This test will involve target destruction at a testing site, like previous, fourth, test" Alexei Moskovsky, Army General.
Four previous tests clearly showed that the development and testing of the missile were in the final stages. The R-30 Bulava (SS-NX-30) ballistic missile is being developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology. The first in-flight test launch was conducted on September 27, 2005, from the Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine. On December 21, 2005 another Bulava was launched from the Dmitry Donskoi in the White Sea before travelling thousands of miles to hit a dummy target on the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was the first time a Bulava had been launched from a submerged position. Russia's Borey-class nuclear submarines may be equipped with Bulava missiles as early as in 2008.
Dmitry Donskoy the Russian strategic nuclear submarine successfully launched a new Bulava ballistic missile in the White Sea on Wednesday morning. The missile hit a target at the Kura firing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
"This was the first underwater launch of a Bulava missile and the second launch conducted as part of a series of tests of the missile" Captain Igor Dygalo.
The Dmitry Donskoy carried out the first test surface launch of a Bulava missile from a point in the White Sea on September 27, 2005. The seaborne strategic missile system Bulava can carry at least 10 independently targetable nuclear warheads. Its effective radius is at least 8,000 kilometres.
