Bulava launch postponed
The planned test launch of Russia’s new Bulava missile from the new strategic submarine Yury Dolgoruky has been postponed until next year. The reason is said to be difficult ice conditions in the White Sea.
A source in the Russian Navy’s General Headquarters told Interfax that the next test launch, which was planned to be conducted on December 17, has been postponed until 2011 because the White Sea, where the missile was planned to be launched from, is covered with ice.
According to the source, the launch was planned to be conducted from surface position by the Yury Dolgoruky.
In an interview with the broadcasting cooperation Vesti, chief editor of the magazine “National Defense” Igor Korotchenko says that there probably is no drama connected to the delay and that there are good reasons to be sure that the submarine is completely ready for such an important step as the first missile launch:
- As long as all the previous launches have been made from an experimental submarine [the rebuilt Typhoon class Dmitry Donskoy] and we now are talking about the designated carrier, it is best to insure yourself for all eventualities so that one can be able to conduct the necessary series of launches, including a salvo fire, next year.
Korotchenko believes that there will be 4-5 test launches in spring or summer next year.
So far there have been 14 test launches of the Bulava missile. The last two were successful, with the missiles hitting their target on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern Russia, but six of the earlier launches have failed.
Read BarentsObserver’s articles on the Bulava missile
