MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Test launches of the Bulava naval-based strategic missile will continue after reasons for the unsuccessful launches become known, Navy Commander Vladimir Vysotsky told the media in Moscow on Monday.
"Test launches will go on when we find out what is wrong," he said.
The reasons are not clear so far, the commander said. "We must expose the root of the systematic failures," he said.
The twelfth Bulava test launch was done from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear-powered submarine on December 9. A technical failure occurred.
"Two stages of the missile operated smoothly, and the third stage suffered a technical failure. Telemetric information was studied upon the submarine's return to base. The third stage engine appeared to be unsteady. A state commission is investigating reasons for the technical failure," the Defense Ministry said.
According to unofficial sources, six out of eleven Bulava test launches were unsuccessful.
The R30 3M30 Bulava-30 sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile (RSM-56, NATO code name SS-NX-30) is due to become the main missile of the Russian naval strategic nuclear forces. It is capable of carrying several individually targeted nuclear units, each of 150 kilotonnes, to a distance of 8,000 kilometers.
The missile will be installed on strategic submarines of Project 955 (Borei) the Sevmash shipyard is building: the Yuri Dolgorukiy, the Alexander Nevsky, and the Vladimir Monomakh (12 solid-fuel ballistic missiles on each).