Bulava test launch from Yury Dolgoruky in June

Russia’s troubled new submarine-launched ballistic missile Bulava will be test launched from the newly constructed nuclear submarine “Yury Dolgoruky” this summer, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry says.

Test launches will be conducted from two submarines – the modified Typhoon class submarine “Dmitry Donskoy”, from which all previous missile tests have been launched, and the new Borey class fourth generation strategic submarine “Yury Dolgoruky”, a high ranking source in the Defense Ministry told RIA Novosti.

The same was earlier claimed by a source in the Russian Navy General Headquarters, as BarentsObserver reported.

This will be the first time a missile is being fired from “Yury Dolgoruky”. The submarine was being tested in Russian Arctic waters last autumn, and testing will probably continue in spring.

The test launch will be conducted this summer, most probably in June, when the White Sea is free from ice, RIA Novosti’s source said.

So far, seven out of 13 test launches of the Bulava missile have failed. The test program was interrupted in December, after yet another failed launch of the missile. This time, the people in large areas of Northern Norway became witnesses to the missile exploding in the sky.