SEVEROMORSK. March 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The Novomoskovsk strategic nuclear submarine organic of the Russian Northern Fleet successfully launched an RSM-54 sea-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday, Colonel Igor Dygalo, chief of the Navy press service, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The missile was launched from the Barents Sea at the Kura testing ground in Kamchatka. The trajectory of the missile's warhead is being monitored by the Russian Space Forces.
"The missile's warhead arrived at the testing ground on time," Dygalo said.
The Novomoskovsk crew under command of Colonel Sergei Rachuk displayed advanced professional skills while accomplishing the mission, he noted.
Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Kuroyedov is supervising the ballistic missile launches from aboard the Pyotr Veliky cruiser in the Barents Sea.
The RSM-54 sea-based ballistic missile was to have been launched from the Novomoskovsk SSBN in service with the Northern Fleet on February 17. According to a preliminary opinion, the launch failed because the navigation satellite had blocked the missile. On the same night Kuroyedov said that the launches were to have been simulated, i.e. the missiles were not supposed to leave silos.
The Karelia SSBN of the Northern Fleet launched a ballistic missile on February 18. The missile deviated from the right trajectory and was self-destroyed 98 seconds into flight. ` The RSM-54 (NATO designation Skiff SSN-23) is an intercontinental liquid-propellant missile of the third generation. Its weight is 40.3t, length is 14.8t, and range is 8,900km. The missile consists of four individually-guided combat sections with a yield of 100 kilotonnes each. It was commissioned in 1986 especially for Project 667 submarines.
The Novomoskovsk submarine of Project 667BDRM (codename Dolphin, NATO designation Delta IV) belongs to the second generation of nuclear submarines. It was laid down by the Sevmashpredpriyatiye shipyard in Severodvinsk in November 1988 and commissioned by the Russian Navy in February 1992.
The submarine's main weapon is the D-9RM missile system that includes 16 three-stage liquid-propelled missiles whose maximal range is 9,300km. They all can be fired off in a salvo from a submerged depth of up to 55m. The submarine's main power plant consists of two water-cooled VM-4SG reactors developing 90mW each and two steam turbines. The nominal capacity of the power plant amounts to 60,000hp.
The Novomoskovsk has 167m in length, 11.7m in width, and 8.8m in average draught. The maximal submerged depth is 650m, and operational submerged depth is 400m. The maximal submerged speed is 23 knots, and the surface speed is 13 knots. The crew is 130 men. The endurance is 90 days.