http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071225/94074574.html
Russia successfully tests sea-based ballistic missile
MOSCOW, December 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia conducted Tuesday a successful test
launch of a ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea in
the Arctic, a Navy spokesman said.
The K-114 Tula (Delta IV-class) nuclear submarine of the Northern Fleet fired a
new-generation Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from a submerged
position, targeting a test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far
East.
"The launch has been conducted from an underwater position," Igor Drygalo said.
"A simulated warhead reached the target at the Kura testing ground at the
designated time."
The RSM-54 Sineva (NATO designation SS-N-23 Skiff) is a third-generation
liquid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile that entered service with
the Russian Navy in June 2007. It has a reported range of 5,500 miles and can
carry four nuclear warheads.
The Tula submarine previously test fired a Sineva ICBM, which is allegedly
capable of penetrating any existing missile defenses, on December 17. A dummy
warhead hit a target at the same testing grounds in Kamchatka with high
precision, the Navy said at the time.
The submarine, built in 1987, has been modernized at the Zvyozdochka (Starlet)
Engineering Plant in Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk Region. It is equipped
with 16 Sineva ICBMs missiles and 12 torpedoes.
Delta IV-class submarines currently form the mainstay of Russia's strategic
nuclear submarine fleet. Seven of the series were built between 1984 and 1992.
Russia's Strategic Missiles Forces (SMF) recently said that Russia would
conduct at least 11 test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles in
2008 and would double the number of launches after 2009 "to prevent the
weakening of Russia's nuclear deterrence under any circumstances."
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