Moscow: Russia on Friday successfully
test-fired the nuclear-capable Bulava intercontinental
missile, the defence ministry said.
The launch is the second successful firing this month
after a string of embarrassing failures brought the programme
to a halt for 10 months.
"The parameters of the trajectory worked out as
planned and the warheads successfully landed at the Kura
firing area," a defense ministry spokesman said in a statement
quoted by Russian news agencies.
The missile was fired early morning from Dmitry
Donskoy submarine in the White Sea, in northwestern Russia,
and hit the Kura firing area on the Kamchatka peninsula on the
Pacific Ocean, 6,000 kilometres away.
The launch confirmed that Bulava`s many failures were
most likely caused by "assembly technology," said a source in
the commission, established to analyse the missile`s
production process and pinpoint what was causing it to fail.
Another launch, the 15th in all, is scheduled before
the end of the year, the source said, Interfax reported.
The Bulava, which can be equipped with up to 10
individually targeted nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of
8,000 kilometres.
The missile is designed for use with Russia`s new
Borei class of nuclear submarines like the Yury Dolgoruky and
Alexander Nevsky. Analysts have said the vessels risk being
worthless unless the Bulava works.
PTI
