Russia has successfully tetst its new Sub launched ICBM > The Bulava

MOSCOW, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has successfully conducted the first in-flight test of a Bulava strategic ballistic missile in a White Sea trial, a top defense ministry official said Tuesday.

The missile was launched from the Dmitry Donskoy, a Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine, at 5:22 p.m. Moscow time (1:22 p.m. GMT).

"At the estimated elapsed time a dummy warhead hit the designated 'target' at the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula," a navy spokesman said.

In 2004, Russia successfully conducted surface and underwater pop-up tests of the Bulava strategic ballistic missile.

Russia's Borey-class nuclear submarines will be equipped with Bulava missiles. Two submarines are being constructed at the Sevmash plant in Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region. The first submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, will be commissioned in 2006 and the second, the Alexander Nevsky, in 2007.

en.rian.ru...

Hmmm.... seems pretty impressive

So why did it test a sub launched ICBM for ???

How big is this Sub well a ICBM is not little missile it's quite large in diameter, can a sub take that much thrust of a fully armed ICBM I don't see any point really it would only make the sub heavier and more vulnerable if it gets attacked or gets lost in sea then that would be very stupid to risk an ICBM in a sub.

Its the naval version of the Topol-M , and weighs in at 47 tons - 1/2 the weight of the SS-N-20 Sturgeon which it will be replacing.

Its also comparable in size to the now cancelled SS-N-28 so launching won`t be an issue.

[edit on 4-10-2005 by Harlequin]

Originally posted by Interseptor
How big is this Sub well a ICBM is not little missile it's quite large in diameter, can a sub take that much thrust of a fully armed ICBM I don't see any point really it would only make the sub heavier and more vulnerable if it gets attacked or gets lost in sea then that would be very stupid to risk an ICBM in a sub.

Guys - SLBM's have been on submarines for decades. The missile is launched from the submarine using a gas charge or a large blast of air. It goes up tot he surface surrounded by millions of bubbles which keep the missile dry when it broaches the surface and is completely out of the water a sensor detects that it is no longer going up and fires the main engine.

The thing is , this IS an ICBM - not a*pure* SLBM - its like slimming down a minuteman-3 and mounting it on an Ohio instead of the Trident D-5