Russian Intercontinental Missile Test Fails Again - Ministry

[Metallic]

16 July 2009

MOSCOW -- Another test of Russia's intercontinental Bulava missile has failed, the defense ministry said Thursday.

The missile blew up mid-flight, similar to a failed test in December, the ministry said.

The missile, which can carry nuclear warheads, veered off course after the first stage of the rocket malfunctioned, said the ministry, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency.

The missile was launched by Russia's Dmitri Donskoi submarine Wednesday in the White Sea.

"A committee of inquiry has been set up to determine the causes" of the failure, said the defense ministry's press service.

Several such tests previously ended in failure, including one in December 2008 launched by the same submarine in the White Sea, off the northwest coast of Russia. On that occasion the missile also exploded in mid-air.

A defense ministry source said the problem was in the device intended to separate the different stages of the missile, and said tests would continue this summer.

The Bulava missile normally has a range of 8,000 kilometers and can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads.

It is intended to equip the Russian navy's fourth-generation missile-launching nuclear submarines, which are being built at the Sevmash shipyard at Severodvinsk, on Russia's Arctic coast.


Source: AFP

 

[Mig-29]

Another launch of Russia’s Bulava missile ended with a failure. The Dmitry Donskoy nuclear cruiser launched the ballistic missile in the White Sea on July 15. However, the missile destroyed itself after a malfunction in the primary stage of the rocket.

Russia has held ten test launches of the Bulava rocket since 2003: five of them proved to be unsuccessful. The Bulava missile complex is capable of carrying up to ten individually guided nuclear warheads. The missile can hit targets at a distance of up to 8,000 kilometers.

Bulava is supposed to become the basic missile for state-of-the-art nuclear-powered Borei class submarines. Russia’s major shipyard, Sevmash Enterprise, is currently building three of such nuclear submarines. Their constriction is said to be complete by 2010.

Experts say that several consecutive unsuccessful launches of the missile endanger the whole project. The missile was designed to minimize modern threats like the US missile defense system in Eastern Europe. Many Russian experts believe that Moscow intends to use the new missile for political reasons to earn Russia the reputation of a superpower.

However, Russia will not scrap up the Bulava project even after the recent failure since the missile is needed to maintain the nuclear parity with the United States.

It was said in 1998 that the Bulava project would be relatively inexpensive. The project was evaluated at $227 million. For the time being, it is obvious that Bulava has taken more than $300 million in ten years.

Alexander Khramchikhin, the deputy director of the Institute of Military and Political Analysis, believes that Russia should stop the tests of the Bulava missile.

“It is obvious that one should stop testing the missile and leaving money on the table. Russia should work on the Sineva missile – the only missile that flies. However, in this case it’s not clear what to do with the submarines that have been designed to carry Bulava on board. Billions of rubles have been wasted on the submarines and the missile – who is going to be responsible for that?” the expert said.

Vladimir Dvorkin, a senior scientist with the Institute for World Economy and International Affairs, shares a different point of view. Russia should continue testing the Bulava missile, he believes.

“One should investigate the reasons of the sixth unsuccessful test launch before making hasty conclusions,” the official said. “It is quite possible to take the missile to the operational condition. An Unsuccessful launch is a sad event, but it does not mean that we should refuse from the missile. There is no alternative to Bulava,” the specialist said.

 

[Metallic]

Russian Missile Designer Quits After Test Failures - Officials
21 JULY 2009

MOSCOW --The head of the institute developing a sea-based version of Russia's newest strategic missile has quit following repeated failures of the weapon in testing, officials said Wednesday.

Yury Solomonov, head of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, was the most senior official to date to take responsibility for the string of failures of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, which is in development.

"After the latest unsuccessful launch of the Bulava rocket, Yury Solomonov has submitted a resignation letter," Interfax-AVN, a news agency specializing in military affairs, quoted a source in the country's space industry as saying.

The source said his resignation was likely to be accepted as the Russian space agency Roskosmos believed that the institute that has spearheaded development of the Bulava required changes in its management structure.

The resignation came after the Russian defense ministry said last Thursday that a Bulava missile had exploded after launch from the nuclear-powered submarine Dmitry Donskoy off northern Russia.

The failure of the missile, reportedly the sixth in 11 test-firings, was characterized by defense experts as a serious setback for the Russian military's drive to revamp its Soviet-era missile arsenal.

The Bulava, which can be equipped with up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 8,000 kilometers.

Boris Rumyantsev, one of Solomonov's deputies at the institute, confirmed to AFP that Solomonov had submitted his resignation as general director but denied the move was linked to the repeated failures of the missile.


Source: AFP