On June 28, 2011 the Yuri Dolgorukiy submarine of the Northern Fleet conducted a test launch of the Bulava sea-launched ballistic missile. The ministry of defense reported that the launch was successful. The missile was launched at 15:55 MSK (11:55 UTC) from a submerged submarine deployed in the White Sea. The warheads were reported to have successfully reached their targets at the test site in Kamchatka.
This was the 15th in the series of Bulava tests and the first launch of the missile from a submarine of the Project 955 class; in all previous tests the missiles were launched from the Dmitry Donskoy Project 941 submarine. The Russian Navy believes that the Yuri Dolgorukiy submarine could begin service in 2011. However, the 2011 test program has not been completed yet - it was expected that it would include four to five launches. Normally, an SLBM test program includes a number of salvo launches (see the history of R-39 tests), so we could probably expect salvo launches of Bulava as well.
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Milestone step forward for the Bulava program.
Frank Shuler
USA
Pavel, do you know what is this "Avangard" missile mentioned by the Russian Defense Minister?
http://www.rg.ru/2011/07/01/armiya-anons.html
Codename for the new Makeyev ICBM?
I have no idea. It's too early for the new ICBM - it won't be ready by the end of 2015.
They're now saying the missile (Bulava) is ready for serial production. Given that a few a year had been produced previously, it wouldn't be surprising to see them slightly ramp up that production, without impacting Topol-M or Yars production at all.
Feanor
Not arguing with your conclusions but remember that up to now the Bulava launches have been from “special production” manufacturing sources. It will be interesting to see if the quality control issues that have historically plagued Bulava can be eliminated during factory “serial production”. I also disagree on the numbers. Russia’s budget for ballistic missile systems is limited; as all budgets are. I don’t see vast increases in new ICBM/SLBM missile production. Bulava will have to share those acquisition rubles with the RS-24, any additional Topol-M systems and the new “heavy” ICBM. I suspect it will be a slow but steady process. Just my opinion.
Frank Shuler
USA
I imagine starting serial Bulava production will mean ending Sineva production. So the funds will become available. Also the budget is scheduled to grow so between those two factors I don't think the budget will be the issue. I'm not implying that Bulava production will take off, simply that it wouldn't be surprising if they managed to start up serial production at a decent pace of 8-12 missiles annually.
The new heavy ICBM is a long way away, and is still up in the air. And yes the quality control will present an additional problem, since even in special manufacturing they couldn't get the necessary quality without a few hiccups.