Russia will start producing an intercontinental ballistic missile for its new generation of nuclear submarines as it moves to counter a proposed U.S. missile defense system in eastern Europe.
Russia ordered production of components for the Bulava-M missile after successfully test firing it June 29 from a submarine in the White Sea to Kamchatka on the Pacific coast, state television cited navy chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin as saying yesterday in Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea fleet. The navy plans two more test launches of the missile this year.
There may be “some mishaps during the forthcoming launches but that is what tests are for,'' state broadcaster Perviy Kanal cited Masorin as saying on its Web site. Three launches of the Bulava-M last year and another in 2005 failed.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia can produce missiles capable of piercing any defenses. Russia opposes U.S. plans to base 10 missile interceptors in Poland and radar installations in the Czech Republic. Putin rejects President George W. Bush's assertion the system is aimed at defending Europe from a nuclear-armed Iran.
“Huge intellectual labor and financial resources have been invested in the creation of this system,'' Masorin said in the Crimean port yesterday.
The Bulava-M is designed for Russia's new generation of nuclear submarines and is a key component in the country's strategic forces, the report said. The first of the submarines, the Yuri Dolgoruky, was launched in April after lengthy delays.
