Russia yesterday said it would extend testing of its Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile into next year, Interfax reported (see GSN, April 28).
"It is absolutely clear now that this system is viable," Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said. "The Bulava's trials will continue this and next year."
Moscow previously said it planned to finish testing and field the weapon this year. However, the program has been troubled, with the missile as of late April failing in half of its 10 flight tests.
The Bulava M missile is designed to carry up to 10 nuclear warheads as far as 5,000 miles (Interfax, June 2).