Russian Navy to Conduct Several Bulava SLBM Launches by End of 2015 from Borey Class SSBN

: Posted On Thursday, 02 July 2015 09:27

Naval Forces News - Russia

Russian Navy to Conduct Several Bulava SLBM Launches by End of 2015 from Borey Class SSBN

Russia will conduct several launches of Bulava ballistic missiles by the end of this year, a source at the Navy's general staff told TASS news agency on Wednesday. "Several launches are being planned by the end of the year," the source said.

Russia’s first Borey class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky
(Picutre: Sevmash Shipyard)

He did not mention which Borey-class submarine would conduct the upcoming launches.

Ballistic missile submarines comprise one leg of Russia’s strategic nuclear triad, along with land-based ICBMs and the bomber force.

The Borey is Russia’s first post-Soviet ballistic missile submarine class and will form the mainstay of the strategic submarine fleet, replacing aging Typhoon, Delta-3 and Delta-4 boats.

Russia ultimately expects eight Borey-class subs to enter service by 2020. The third in the class. Three of them have been already handed over to the Navy. The vessels will be armed with up to 16 Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which have range of over 8,000 kilometers. The previous Bulava launch was conducted in late November 2014 from the Alexander Nevsky Borey-class submarine.

Launch video: Russian nuclear sub test-fires Bulava ballistic missile