Russia’s Defence Ministry reported on Sunday that Russia’s new strategic nuclear-powered submarine, the Imperator Alexander III, successfully tested the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Imperator Alexander III is the seventh of Russia’s Project 955 Borei (“Arctic Wind”) class nuclear submarine and the fourth of the modernised Borei-A variant, according to Russian sources.
Firing a ballistic missile is the final element of state tests, after which a decision will be made to accept the cruiser into the Navy.
The Federation of American Scientists claimed that a missile capable of carrying up to six nuclear warheads was launched from an underwater position in the White Sea off Russia’s northern coast. The defence ministry reported that the missile hit a target thousands of kilometres away on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia’s Far East.
The Borei-class submarine is armed with 16 Bulava missiles having a strike range of about 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles).
The war in Ukraine has sparked the worst crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the Cold War. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated in an interview on Sunday that relations with the US were “below zero.”
Relations are at zero or I would say below zero. Putin has repeatedly stated that he is ready for any contacts.
According to state media, the country plans to build 10 to 12 Borei-class submarines, which will be split between the Northern and Pacific fleets. Three more Borei-class submarines are under construction: the Knyaz Pozharsky, the Dmitry Donskoy, and the Knyaz Potemkin.
Earlier this week, Putin signed a law cancelling Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), drawing sharp criticism from the United States.
The 1996 CTBT bans all nuclear explosions, including live nuclear weapons tests. However, some major countries, including the US and China, have never ratified it.
