Translated material
Tripped on the third step
"Bulava" flies every other time
The test launch of the sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava on Tuesday ended in failure: after launching from the nuclear submarine cruiser Dmitry Donskoy from the White Sea, the missile self-destructed, exploding in the air, Interfax reported, citing a source in the military-industrial complex.According to the source, the first and second stages of the rocket operated normally, but a malfunction occurred during the operation of the third stage. As a result, the rocket received a command to self-destruct. There were no casualties or destruction as a result of the missile's self-destruction.
Previously, sources in the Ministry of Defense reported that it was this time, in the event of a successful launch, that the final decision was to be made on putting the Bulava into service with the Navy and starting serial production of the complex.
Nevertheless, missile testing will continue. The program for 2009 provides for three or four test launches, based on the results of which the missile will be accepted or not accepted into service by the Navy. A number of these launches are planned to be carried out from the newest strategic missile carrier Yuri Dolgoruky, for which the missile is being created.
The head of the Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, has repeatedly stated that 12-14 launches will be required to fine-tune the complex. The results of the current launch of the Bulava are being analyzed in the Russian Navy, said Assistant to the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Captain First Rank Igor Dygalo. Along with the test on Tuesday, a total of ten Bulava launches were carried out. Five of them ended unsuccessfully. Thus, the next three or four launches will be decisive for the fate of the Bulava. However, yesterday a source in the Navy said that in 2009 the number of Bulava launches will be increased “from the planned three or four to at least five.”
At the end of November, the strategic submarine missile cruiser Dmitry Donskoy from the White Sea successfully launched a Bulava missile from an underwater position as part of the state flight testing program for the complex. The disengagement of platforms with combat charges proceeded as usual. The warheads successfully arrived at the Kamchatka missile test site Kura.
The Bulava intercontinental solid-fuel sea-based ballistic missile was developed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. The missile can carry up to ten individually targeted nuclear units and hit targets within a radius of up to 8 thousand km. It is intended to arm the promising nuclear submarines of Project 955 (code "Borey"), which are currently being built at Sevmashpredpriyatiya: "Yuri Dolgoruky", "Alexander Nevsky" and "Vladimir Monomakh" (12 missiles each). It is also envisaged that this missile will be installed on modified Project 941 boats.
The Bulava missile is planned to be put into service in 2009, along with the Yuri Dolgoruky submarine, which has already been launched. On November 21, specialists from Sevmashpredpriyatiya and the personnel of the submarine Yuri Dolgoruky successfully launched the nuclear power plant of the submarine.