Russian navy test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile

Home>>World

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 18, 2004

Russian navy test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile

The Russian Northern Fleet's nuclear-powered submarine Novomoskovsk fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea at 15:08 Moscow time on Wednesday.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

The Russian Northern Fleet's nuclear-powered submarine Novomoskovsk fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea at 15:08 Moscow time on Wednesday.

The warhead of the Sineva missile accurately hit a target at the Kura testing ground on Kamchatka, the Russian Navy commander's aide Capitan Igor Dygalo told Itar-Tass.

A Defence Ministry official told Itar-Tass that the RSM-54 Sineva missile, which is know as Scythian in the Western classification, was launched from the sea depth.

The Novomoskovsk and another nuclear-powered submarine, the Karelia, were to make combat training launches of Sineva missiles on February 17 and 18 during the massive command and staff exercises Security-2004 that were held in Russia on February 10-18.

However, the launches failed.

President Vladimir Putin, who watched the exercises, ordered to set up a commission for carrying out a probe ��within a shortest time��.

He said the summary of the commission must contain not only ��revealed causes of the failures but also proposals for abolishing them��.

The president also ordered another exercise of the submarines for making sure that malfunctions are eliminated.

The Defence Ministry��s commission has established that the Novomoskovsk��s system of underwater launches failed and was automatically blocked for safety.

A day later, a Sineva missile blasted off from the Karelia, but it veered off course at the 98th seconds of the flight and was annihilated by its self-destruction system.

The probing commission said in its preliminary summary that the missile��s control system could malfunction.

The missile-carrying strategic submarine Novomoskovsk (K-407) of Project 667 BDRM belongs to a Dolphin type that is called Delta-IV in the Western classification.

Seven Dolphins have been built since 1981.

Main arms of the submarines are 16 intercontinental missiles RSM-54 with liquid fuel engines.

The 167meter- long submarine with a crew of 140 can dive to a maximum depth of 650 meters.

At present, the Dolphin submarines are a main naval component of Russia's nuclear triad.

Tests were conducted on one of Dolphins in 1990 with a simultaneous launch of all 16 missiles, as in real combat.

A Shtil rocket was launched in July 1998 from the Novomoskovsk and successfully delivered in orbit Germany��s satellite Tubsat-N.

Source: agencies

Questions?Comments? Click here

Putin takes a submarine ride

Putin watches as missile launch fails

Russian navy denies missile exercise failure

Indian navy to have two aircraft carriers by 2011 ( 4 Messages)

What's the meaning of Bush & Blair nominated as candidates for Nobel Peace Prize? ( 31 Messages)

Study: Americans eating themselves to death ( 7 Messages)

Japanese PM's remark on shrine visit leads to long-term cold relations with China: Kyodo ( 10 Messages)

French Presidents' China complex ( 4 Messages)