Russian Navy nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimus Suvorov has successfully launched a ballistic missile Bulava during the final phase of government certification tests, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday. The launch was carried out from the White Sea at the Kura proving ground in Kamchatka.
Russian News Agency, TASS has covered the news about the test launch of the Bulava Submarine-launched Ballistic Missile System.
“The crew of the newest strategic missile submarine Generalissimus Suvorov, of the Borey-A project, has successfully fired a Bulava ballistic missile during the final phase of the government certification tests,” the Defense Ministry stated.
The launch was carried out from the White Sea at the Kura proving ground in Kamchatka.
“The flight of the Bulava ballistic missile was normal. According to verified objective monitoring data, the warheads were successfully delivered to the designated test impact area Kura,” the Defense Ministry stressed.
Earlier, the CEO of the northern machine-building enterprise Sevmash (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation) Mikhail Budnichenko, told TASS that the Project 955A strategic nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimus Suvorov was about to be handed over to the Russian Navy.
The nuclear-powered submarine Generalissimus Suvorov belongs to the fourth generation of nuclear-powered subs of the upgraded project Borey-A (designed at the St. Petersburg Central Design Bureau of Marine Engineering “Rubin”). The project boasts fundamentally new technical solutions, improved equipment, a lower level of physical fields and better safety.
The keel-laying ceremony for The Generalissimus Suvorov was held at the Sevmash plant on December 26, 2014. The sub was rolled out on December 25, 2021. It will join the nuclear submarine group of the Pacific Fleet.
The RSM-56 Bulava is a submarine-launched ballistic missile developed for the Russian Navy and was deployed in 2013 on the new Borei class of ballistic missile nuclear submarines.
It is intended as the future cornerstone of Russia’s nuclear triad, and is the most expensive weapons project in the country. The weapon takes its name from bulava, a Russian word for mace.
Designed by Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, development of the missile was launched in the late 1990s as a replacement for the R-39 Rif solid-fuel SLBM.
The Project 955/955A Borei-class submarines carry 16 missiles per vessel. Development and deployment of the Bulava missile within the Russian Navy is not affected by the enforcement of the new START treaty.
A source in the Russian defense industry told TASS on June 29, 2018, that the D-30 missile system with the R-30 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile had been accepted for service in the Russian Navy after its successful four-missile salvo launch tests in 2018.
The missile has three stages; the first and second stages use solid fuel propellant, while the third stage uses a liquid fuel to allow high maneuverability during warhead separation.
The missile can be launched from an inclined position, allowing a submarine to fire them while moving. It has a low flight trajectory, and due to this could be classified as a quasi-ballistic missile.
It is rumored to possess advanced missile defense evasion capabilities and can maneuver at its boost stage.
Borei-class submarines carrying Bulava missiles are expected to be an integral part of the Russian nuclear triad until 2040.
Bulava can be loaded on TEL road mobile launchers, on railway BZhRK trains and other various launchers.
The Russian Navy is the only operator of the RSM-56 Bulava. As of January 2022, 80 missiles were deployed on 5 Borei-class ballistic missile submarines.