Russia's New naval ICBM

Russia plans to complete its experiment on the new Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile system by the end of 2006, the Russian navy’s commander-in-chief, Vladimir Kuroyedov, was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.

The research and manufacture of the new missile have been going on as scheduled, and only after the process is 70 percent completed can the related departments decide when to hand the missile over to the navy and other troops, Kuroyedov reported.

The solid-fuel Bulava missile, which is under a three-year testing program, is capable of carrying up to 10 individually guided nuclear warheads, with a range of up to 8,000 kilometers.

The Bulava (SS-NX-30) is the submarine-launched version of Russia’s most advanced missile, the Topol-M (SS-27) solid fuel ICBM.

The SS-NX-30 is a derivative of the SS-27, except for a slight decrease in range due to conversions in the design for submarine launch. The SS-27 is 21.9 meters long, far too large to fit in a typical submarine.

The largest previously deployed Russian SLBM was the R-39 / SS-N-20 STURGEON, which was 16 meters long. The Bulava will have a range of no less than 8,000 kilometers, and reportedly features a 550 kT yield nuclear warhead.

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The research and manufacture of the new missile have been going on as scheduled, and only after the process is 70 percent completed can the related departments decide when to hand the missile over to the navy and other troops, Kuroyedov reported.
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Snort. Nice to see Fitzgerald's First Law Of Acquisition applies-

"Too early to tell (if it works), too late to stop (if it doe$n't)..."

'Even to Russians'...

Be nice to know how many boomers they have which are capable of using these and whether there is any significant boat modification required as with the C4/D5 Tridents.


KPl.