Those who were skeptical about earlier reports on new Bulava test in March were right - according to Army General Vladimir Popovkin, Deputy Minister of Defense for armaments, the first test is not expected until at least June. Also, Popovkin was optimistic about the prospect of accepting Bulava for service in 2009.
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Comments
If ejection mechanisms were at fault for the failure of Bulavas (as is reported in the news) how is it that RS-24 and a host of other MIRV's have always succeeded and this question never arose in the past? Does it mean that some new suppliers have failed to maintain the quality standards?