Russia on Friday said it plans to stick with its troubled Bulava ballistic missile program despite another failed test last month, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, July 24).
The Bulava, a submarine-launched ballistic missile that Moscow hopes will be a cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal for years to come, exploded less than 30 seconds into its most recent trial launch. It was the sixth failure in 11 tries and prompted the resignation of the head of the organization designing the weapon.
The cause of the latest failure remains under investigation. It also remains to be seen whether the incident constitutes a major blow to the development of the nation's next-generation weapon-delivery system.
"Everything depends on the conclusions reached by an investigative commission," said Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin. Those conclusions could come next week, he said.
Testing of the missile could continue later this month, according to RIA Novosti.
Some critics in government and the private defense sector have lobbied to mothball the Bulava and to emphasize the already-deployed, submarine-launched Sineva missile, which can be armed with between four and 10 nuclear warheads and fly up to 7,100 miles.
However, Popovkin said that it is too late to abandon the Bulava, as Russia is already producing submarines designed to carry the missile.
"We have no choice," he said. "We already have one [Borei-class] submarine, and have laid down more, so to start a new [research and development] project would be unrealistic."
Popovkin pointed out that developing a new missile costs as much as $1 billion, on top of $2 billion for a new submarine.
"These are serious expenses," he said. "But the most important thing is the years (spent on development), because we urgently need to change our sea-based strategic delivery vehicles" (RIA Novosti, July 31).