Bulava missile to be launched from Alexander Nevsky submarine in late November - source

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. Russia’s Borei class strategic submarine, the Alexander Nevsky, is due to launch the Bulava missile in late November, a source in the headquarters of the Russian Navy told TASS on Tuesday. “It is planned that in late November the Alexander Nevsky will fire the Bulava from the Barents Sea at the Kura test range on the Kamchatka Peninsula,” the source said. The launch is due on November 28-30. “Like previously, the launch will be made from the submerged position of the submarine,” he added. The Alexander Nevsky is to fire the only missile that will be on board. In October, the Yuri Dolgoruky submarine carried out the launch with a full load of Bulava missiles on board. “Compared with the lead vessel of the project, the Yuri Dolgoruky, which is in operational service of the fleet, the Alexander Nevsky, the first series vessel of the project, continues conducting tests, including deep-water ones, that’s why arming it now with 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles is premature and even dangerous,” the source said. The Alexander Nevsky will receive the full load in 2015 before being put into service in the Pacific Fleet. In early November, Russia’s Defence Ministry rejected media reports that the test launch of Bulava planned until year-end has been postponed. The ministry’s official spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said the missile will be launched from the submarine until the end of this year. The spokesman added that in line with the plan for 2015, two launches of sea-based Bulava are to be conducted. Read more