Bulava Sea-Based Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Officially Enters Russian Military Service, Carried By Nuclear Submarine

The test launch of SLBM Bulava from the submarine The Imperator Alexander III. (Source: Russian Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA - Head of Institute Designer Yuri Solomonov said Tuesday that the Bulava sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by Moscow's Thermal Institute of Technology has been accepted for use in the Russian Armed Forces.

"On May 7 this year, a decree was signed to receive the Bulava missile system for use," he told TASS, as quoted May 15.

ICBM Bulava was developed based on a program that began in the 1990s, and is designed for use on Russian Borei-class submarines.

Later, this ballistic missile is planned to be stationed on a strategic nuclear-powered submarine Project 955/955A (Breei/Borei-A class) is the carrier of the Bulava ICBM.

Currently, Russia's Northern Fleet and Pacific operates seven strategic submarines of this type built by the Sevmash Shipyard in northwestern Russia. Each of these submarines is capable of carrying 16 Bulava ICBMs.

According to open source data, the solid-fueled ICBM Bulava has a flight range of more than 9,000 km and can carry six to ten MIRV warheads with a explosive power of 100-150 kilotons each that can deliver nuclear warheads to different targets. The Bulava itself has a launch weight of about 37 tons.

Last November, the Ministry of Defense said one of the submarines successfully conducted a test launch of Bulava, firing it from an underwater position in the northern Russian offshore White Sea, hitting a target thousands of kilometers away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned Western countries since the start of the war in Ukraine, direct intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces there could trigger a nuclear conflict.

Over the past few years, Moscow's Thermal Institute of Technology led by Yury Solomonov has engineered ICBM Topol-M and Yars as well as Bulava's sea and land-based missile systems.