[1/2]In this screenshot from a video published on November 5, 2023, Russia’s new nuclear submarine “Emperor Alexander III” tests the “Bulava” ballistic missile, which is designed to carry nuclear warheads, from the White Sea. Russian Ministry of Defense/Handout via Portal acquires license rights
- New nuclear submarine almost ready for use
- Russia is building more submarines
- Kremlin: Relations with Washington “below zero”
MOSCOW, Nov 5 (Portal) – Russia’s new strategic nuclear submarine, the Imperator Alexander III, has successfully tested a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
The missile, designed to carry up to six nuclear warheads according to the Federation of American Scientists, was fired from an underwater position in the White Sea off Russia’s northern coast and hit a target thousands of kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, said the Defense Ministry.
“The launch of a ballistic missile is the final element of state tests, after which a decision is made on accepting the cruiser into the Navy,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to Russian sources, the Emperor Alexander III. the seventh Borei-class (Arctic Wind) nuclear submarine of Russia’s Project 955 and the fourth of the modernized Borei-A variant.
They are known in NATO as the Dolgoruky class of submarines, after the first boat – the Yuri Dolgoruky – which was the first new generation of nuclear submarines that Russia had commissioned since the Cold War.
The Borei-class submarine is armed with 16 Bulava missiles. The 12-meter rocket has a range of about 8,000 km (5,000 miles).
Since coming to power in 1999, President Vladimir Putin has increased military spending and sought to rebuild Russia’s nuclear and conventional forces after the chaos that accompanied the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Ukraine war has sparked the worst crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the depths of the Cold War, and Putin said last month he was not ready to say whether Russia should resume nuclear tests or not.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that relations with the United States were below zero.
“Relations are at zero — or I would say below zero,” Peskov said, but added that the leaders of Russia and the United States would have to reconnect at some point.
“Putin has repeatedly stated that he is ready for any contacts,” Peskov said.
According to current plans reported by Russian media, Russia wants to build a total of 10 to 12 Borei-class submarines, which will be divided between the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Three more Borei-class submarines are being built: the Knyaz Pozharsky, the Dmitry Donskoy and the Knyaz Potemkin. According to Russian media, two more boats are also planned.
Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow. Editing by William Mallard and David Goodman
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