September 23, 2004 :: News
As expected, Russia today test launched its new Bulava submarine launched intercontinental ballistic missile, according to the Interfax news agency. A Russian nuclear submarine, the Dmitry Donskoy, fired the Bulava missile from the White Sea.
The test coincides with Russia’s launch of two Kosmos military satellites today, as reported by Itar-Tass, which are used to monitor ballistic missile launches.
Interfax initially reported that the missile traveled to its intended target successfully. Another report said the test consisted of only a “pop-up,” a test of the release mechanism which ejects the missile from the submarine, and involved no actual firing of the missile’s engine.
Update: The latter report is confirmed by another report by Interfax, which quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov:
The Bulava system was tested under water last week, Ivanov said. “The tests were successful,” he said. The minister said they used a real-size mock-up of the missile for tests. It was fired from the submerged Dmitriy Donskoy submarine. “The mock-up was delivered to a height where the cruise engine starts working,” Ivanov said. The tests showed that the missile system could be fired from submerged submarines, the minister said.
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