Article Posted on : - Oct 06, 2010

A file photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia is planning to conduct a test launch of its “troubled” Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system in the White Sea by the end of this week, a media report said on Wednesday.

“The launch of the missile is expected at the end of the week, most likely on Thursday,” Ria Novosti reported, quoting a source in the administration of the northern Russian town of Severodvinsk.

The ICBM will be launched from Russia’s Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine, it said.

Russia had vowed to continue testing the long-range missile system even though the weapon failed during its last test firing from a nuclear-powered submarine on December 9, 2009. A previous launch in July 2010 also resulted in the missile being self-destructed due to malfunctioning of its first stage engine.

The Bulava ICBM has undergone a total of 12 test-launches so far, out of which seven have resulted in failure.

Russia had decided in 1998 to develop the Bulava missile system in order to equip its military with advanced defence capabilities and making it resistant to missile-defence systems.

The three-stage solid-propellant ballistic missile, with a range of over 8,000 kilometers, carries up to 10 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) warheads. It is being developed for deployment on Russia's Borey class nuclear-powered submarines.