View Full Version : Russian sub fails to launch Bulava missile
seruriermarshal
10-31-2009, 09:38 PM
Russian sub fails to launch missile
Friday, October 30, 2009
MOSCOW: Russia’s latest test of its next-generation Bulava missile was aborted when a submarine failed to carry out the launch, in a fresh setback for the project, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.
The Dmitry Donskoi, a nuclear-powered sub that had been due to test-fire a Bulava off Russia’s northern coast, returned to its White Sea base without having launched the missile, a source at the naval base told Interfax.
“The main task of the mission, the execution of the Bulava test launch, was not fulfilled,” the source was quoted as saying.
“There are many theories about the event but the reasons can only be announced after an analysis of what happened,” he added. The Bulava, the flagship project in Moscow’s efforts to revamp its ageing Soviet-era missile arsenal, has suffered a string of embarrassing failures, with seven out of 11 tests since 2005 ending unsuccessfully.
Nearly half of the Russian defence ministry’s purchasing budget is devoted to the Bulava programme, according to Russian media reports.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=205944
The missile failed to leave the launch tube
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
A Russian submarine failed to carry out a scheduled test of the nation's sea-based experimental ballistic missile in the Arctic Ocean, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 15).
The Dmitry Donskoi returned to its base in western Russia without firing the weapon as planned, a naval base source told Interfax.
"The main task of the mission, the execution of the Bulava test launch, was not fulfilled," the source said. "There are many theories about the event but the reasons can only be announced after an analysis of what happened."
The missile, which has failed in six of 11 flight tests, is intended to arm Russia's new Borei-class submarines and to form a key component of Moscow's nuclear deterrent. It is designed to carry as many as 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads up to 5,000 miles.
Moscow has dedicated almost 50 percent of its defense purchasing budget to the weapon's development, Russian news reports have indicated (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 29).
Meanwhile, a Russian nuclear-capable, short-range ballistic missile unexpectedly broke up during a live-fire exercise yesterday, Interfax reported.
"The missile self-destructed at the height of 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet)," said Col. Alexei Kuznetsov. The incident involving the unarmed Tochka-U missile was not reported to have caused injuries or any other harm.
An investigation is planned. A second Tochka-U test went off without trouble, the official said.
Developed in 1989, the Tochka-U is a variant of the Soviet-era Tochka missile commissioned in 1976 (Interfax, Oct. 30).
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20091030_3645.php
This Bulava is turning into a real nightmare. Surely some heads are going to roll
Nearly half of the Russian defence ministry’s purchasing budget is devoted to the Bulava programme, according to Russian media reports.
This seems hard to believe.
CaptMorgan68
10-31-2009, 10:17 PM
This Bulava is turning into a real nightmare. Surely some heads are going to roll
That is for sure)
:-(Damn this project isnt going too good...
CaptMorgan68
10-31-2009, 10:20 PM
:-(Damn this project isnt going too good...
Yup. It was a big mistkae to give this to NII that had no experienced with sea launched missiles. The head of NII has already been fired though. So heads are rolling.
artjomh
10-31-2009, 10:29 PM
The article is somewhat deceptive. It paints a picture that a launch was conducted, but failed. In reality, no launch was planned at all.
MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Dmitry Donskoy strategic nuclear-powered submarine returned on Wednesday from a short sea test run to prepare for upcoming test launches of the troubled Bulava missile.
"The sub left the base in Severodvinsk on Monday to test the readiness of the equipment for future launches of the Bulava missile," a Severodvinsk administration official said, without specifying the date for the next test of the missile.
The Typhoon-class submarine, based at a naval facility in northern Russia's Severodvinsk, is the only vessel in service with the Russian Navy capable of testing the new Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM).
The Russian military expects the Bulava, along with Topol-M land-based ballistic missiles, to become the core of Russia's nuclear triad.
However, the Bulava's development has been dogged by a series of setbacks, which has officially suffered six failures in 11 tests.
The latest Bulava failure during the launch from Dmitry Donskoy in the North Sea on July 15 was caused by a defective steering system in its first stage, a defense industry source said on Monday.
The future development of the Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry officials, who have suggested that all efforts should be focused on the existing Sineva SLBM.
But the Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready to be put in service with the Navy.
The Bulava (SS-NX-30) SLBM carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles). The three-stage solid-propellant ballistic missile is designed for deployment on Borey-class nuclear-powered submarines.
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20091028/156626320.html
The article quoted about makes it seem like an actual launch was planned for this particular deployment and it failed.
Buyer, beware!
Why would the boomer have to leave port to check systems related to missile launch?
Seems a bit confusing.
The article is somewhat deceptive. It paints a picture that a launch was conducted, but failed. In reality, no launch was planned at all.
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20091028/156626320.html
The article quoted about makes it seem like an actual launch was planned for this particular deployment and it failed.
Buyer, beware!
The article smelled fishy to me when they claimed that half of the Russian military purchasing budget was dedicated to the Bulava.
artjomh
10-31-2009, 10:39 PM
Why would the boomer have to leave port to check systems related to missile launch?
Seems a bit confusing.
Perhaps they are being extra careful this time, double-checking everything. This particular launch was actually planned for mid-October, but then cancelled and rescheduled for beginning of November.
Pavel Podvig from the Center for Arms Control Studies reports on matters related to Bulava and other strategic developments fairly accurately. I would suggest following his blog if you want to know the latest details about the launches, planned and executed: http://russianforces.org/blog/
Universals
10-31-2009, 10:41 PM
The article smelled fishy to me when they claimed that half of the Russian military purchasing budget was dedicated to the Bulava.
objective reporting on anything Russia is a rare commodity these days. The Tochka-U that failed was a missile that has over stayed its life span before it was launched. Besides, it happened close to a week ago, but they decided to pair it with this report to make it sound like Russian missile tech is just falling apart.
Mu-Meson
11-01-2009, 01:02 AM
objective reporting on anything Russia is a rare commodity these days. The Tochka-U that failed was a missile that has over stayed its life span before it was launched. Besides, it happened close to a week ago, but they decided to pair it with this report to make it sound like Russian missile tech is just falling apart.
Yeah, two separate missile launch failures with a week of each other should clearly never be mentioned in the same article.
Sounds like Medvedev was right in his complaints.
kollaps
11-01-2009, 01:12 AM
well as far as i know it seems like a code or software problem. it's bad but not that bad.
kollaps
11-01-2009, 01:15 AM
and concerning the ss-21 - they will soon be beyond their lifetime anyway. the iskander is the replacement. with longer range and much better features.
Universals
11-01-2009, 01:25 AM
Yeah, two separate missile launch failures with a week of each other should clearly never be mentioned in the same article.
Sounds like Medvedev was right in his complaints.
Tochka-U was missile was a live-fire drill. old stocks are usually fired off for live-fire drills. The particular missile that failed was a 1989 modification of the ss-21 and has already past it's shelf life. To put it in the same article as the beluva with the obvious intent is poor Journalism cos those two events fall in very different categories IMO.
eskachig
11-01-2009, 03:18 AM
Yeah, two separate missile launch failures with a week of each other should clearly never be mentioned in the same article.
Sounds like Medvedev was right in his complaints.
1. Live fire drill of a past-use-date missile fails.
2. An experimental test launch of a missile in R&D is... planned for later.
You tell me what this article is about.
AmaStrat
11-01-2009, 04:12 AM
Russian sub fails to launch missile
Friday, October 30, 2009
MOSCOW: Russia’s latest test of its next-generation Bulava missile was aborted when a submarine failed to carry out the launch, in a fresh setback for the project, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.
The Dmitry Donskoi, a nuclear-powered sub that had been due to test-fire a Bulava off Russia’s northern coast, returned to its White Sea base without having launched the missile, a source at the naval base told Interfax.
“The main task of the mission, the execution of the Bulava test launch, was not fulfilled,” the source was quoted as saying.
“There are many theories about the event but the reasons can only be announced after an analysis of what happened,” he added. The Bulava, the flagship project in Moscow’s efforts to revamp its ageing Soviet-era missile arsenal, has suffered a string of embarrassing failures, with seven out of 11 tests since 2005 ending unsuccessfully.
Nearly half of the Russian defence ministry’s purchasing budget is devoted to the Bulava programme, according to Russian media reports.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=205944
The missile failed to leave the launch tube
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
A Russian submarine failed to carry out a scheduled test of the nation's sea-based experimental ballistic missile in the Arctic Ocean, Agence France-Presse reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 15).
The Dmitry Donskoi returned to its base in western Russia without firing the weapon as planned, a naval base source told Interfax.
"The main task of the mission, the execution of the Bulava test launch, was not fulfilled," the source said. "There are many theories about the event but the reasons can only be announced after an analysis of what happened."
The missile, which has failed in six of 11 flight tests, is intended to arm Russia's new Borei-class submarines and to form a key component of Moscow's nuclear deterrent. It is designed to carry as many as 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads up to 5,000 miles.
Moscow has dedicated almost 50 percent of its defense purchasing budget to the weapon's development, Russian news reports have indicated (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 29).
Meanwhile, a Russian nuclear-capable, short-range ballistic missile unexpectedly broke up during a live-fire exercise yesterday, Interfax reported.
"The missile self-destructed at the height of 1,000 meters (about 3,280 feet)," said Col. Alexei Kuznetsov. The incident involving the unarmed Tochka-U missile was not reported to have caused injuries or any other harm.
An investigation is planned. A second Tochka-U test went off without trouble, the official said.
Developed in 1989, the Tochka-U is a variant of the Soviet-era Tochka missile commissioned in 1976 (Interfax, Oct. 30).
http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20091030_3645.php
Bulava is either a great failure or Russians are very good at disinformation.
Bulava is either a great failure or Russians are very good at disinformation.
Or those articles are full of crap and the outing by the Donskoi was was a systems check (as claimed by at least RIA), was never intended to launch the missile, and the actual launch will take place shortly.
I don't get it...
MOSCOW, November 1 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian nuclear submarine has successfully test-launched a ballistic missile, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
"On November 1, the Northern Fleet's nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine, Bryansk, successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in the Barents Sea from a submerged position," the ministry said in a statement.
"The warheads reached the target area at the designated time," the statement said.
Russia's nuclear triad comprises land-based ballistic missile systems, nuclear-powered submarines armed with sea-launched ballistic missiles (http://en.beta.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20091028/156626320.html), and strategic bombers carrying nuclear bombs and nuclear-capable cruise missiles.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091101/156670130.html
seruriermarshal
11-01-2009, 05:48 AM
I don't get it , Dmitry Donskoi use Bulava . Bryansk can't use Bulava .
I don't get it...
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091101/156670130.html
tea drinker
11-01-2009, 06:24 AM
This seems hard to believe.
Yeah that 50% of the total defence budget is spent on a mjissile which fails to launch (every couple of months) seems incorrect. If they had this level of investment it would be tested a few times every week?
Maybe the whole sub/missile platform is a big part of the maritime spending, but for it be half of what they spend on space, air, land and other stuff too, well, it sounds crap to me.
TheArmenian
11-01-2009, 08:39 AM
I you want to know how well the Tochka missile works, just ask the Georgians.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioj_l0uvqps
I don't get it , Dmitry Donskoi use Bulava . Bryansk can't use Bulava .
Yes, you're right, it was probably Sineva SLBM in this case.
zheka130
11-01-2009, 09:41 AM
on the russian news site it says that a successful launch of an unidentified missile was carried out, because no info was provided, but it is believed to be Sineva
not sure if its about the same story
lauris71
11-01-2009, 10:20 AM
Yeah that 50% of the total defence budget is spent on a mjissile which fails to launch (every couple of months) seems incorrect. If they had this level of investment it would be tested a few times every week?
Maybe the whole sub/missile platform is a big part of the maritime spending, but for it be half of what they spend on space, air, land and other stuff too, well, it sounds crap to me.
It was probably clueless journalism at its best :roll:
The facts:
50% of navy budget is spent on new submarines, the most important of whose are Borey class, which is designed as carrier platform for Bulava.
But this is too hard for readers to understand, so lets make it shorter:
50% of defence budget is spent on Bulava.
Digimon
11-01-2009, 12:03 PM
The report of the "failure" appears to be based on nothing but speculation (e.g. http://www.ng.ru/nvo/2009-10-30/1_bulava.html?mthree=9). Ultimately, whether there are any reasons for this conclusion would depend on whether the November tests goes on as planned. Typically, if there is a failure, its investigation takes months. If the November test is not cancelled, then there had been no failure.
jokuvaan
11-26-2009, 06:58 AM
whether the November tests goes on as plannedhttp://www.*******.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSGEE5AN0F7
Russia delays test of troubled Bulava missile
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