"Mace" again laid up

The launch of the Russian Bulava intercontinental missile, prepared by 17 on December 2010, has been postponed indefinitely due to deteriorating weather conditions in the White Sea.

According to the General Staff of the Navy, according to the plan, the launch should be carried out from the board of the nuclear submarine “Yury Dolgoruky”. However, due to the formation of ice jams, the submarine could not reach the reference point in the White Sea during the estimated time. During the tests, it was planned to test the capabilities of new-generation submarines to launch a rocket from a surface position.

Further tests were postponed to the next year, according to their results a decision will be made on the serial production of weapons. The chief developer of the Bulava, Solomonov Y., has repeatedly stated that the rocket launch from the submarine was prepared and would take place at the appointed time. This opinion was shared by the officers of the General Staff of the Navy. Of particular interest to the tests gave the fact that 7 December, there was information about the readiness of a nuclear warhead for installation on the long-suffering rocket.

Given the failure of the test, the nearest launch is possible no earlier than 2011 of the year. In the same period, it is necessary to make a final decision on the advisability of sending a rocket into mass production. According to the calculations of designers in the future, the Bulava will be able to be launched not only from submarine mines, but also from the ground.

After the fourteenth launch of the rocket from the board of the Dmitry Donskoy submarine, which took place on October 29, representatives of the Navy General Staff announced that it could be put into service as early as September 2011. Against this decision says the statistics, because most of the launches ended in failure. According to experts of the Ministry of Defense, the cause of failures was the defects that were made during the assembly of the rocket.

According to the plan, the Bulava will be part of strategic submarine-launched cruisers armament developed under the 955 (Borey) project. Even on October 26, First Deputy Minister of Defense Popovkin V. Declared that the rocket would be put into service with the Russian Navy only if its reliability factor was brought to unity. Many officials have said that if adopted, the rocket will be able to serve up to the 2050 year.

“Bulava” is a development of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering. It is a three-stage intercontinental ballistic missile based on submarines. The engines of the first and second stages operate on solid fuel, the third stage is liquid, designed to provide speed and maneuver during the breeding of warheads. At the time of launch, the rocket may be in a slanting state, which allows launching in motion under water.

The rocket carriers are the strategic submarines of the 941 project of the UM “Shark” (“Dmitry Donskoy”) and the 955 “Borey” cruiser (“Alexander Nevsky”, “Yuri Dolgoruky”, “Vladimir Monomakh” and others). Before 2015, eight nuclear submarines of the specified type should appear under the plan.