Russia’s newest ballistic missile sub launches its first Bulava SLBM

The Russian defense ministry has shared video footage of the navy’s newest ballistic missile submarine launching its first Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile.

The missile launch took place in the White Sea and was part of the boat’s at-sea trials.

The video footage was shared almost exactly two years after Knyaz Vladimir, the first modernized Borei-A (Project 955-A) submarine, was launched in Severodvinsk on November 17, 2017.

Launched from below the surface, the unarmed missile traveled around 5,000 kilometers to a test site in the Kamchatka peninsula in far eastern Russia and met all objectives, according to the defense ministry.

The tests are being conducted ahead of the boat’s delivery to the Russian Northern Fleet later this year.

Knyaz Vladimir, which started construction in 2012, is the first of four upgraded SSBNs that are planned for construction. The future submarines will be named Knyaz Oleg, Generalissimus Suvorov, Imperator Alexander III and Knyaz Pozharsky.

Compared to the first three Borei boats, inducted into the navy between 2013 and 2014, Borei-A boats are built with four additional missile tubes making them capable of carrying a total of 20 Bulava (RSM-56) ballistic missiles.