Russia’s new nuclear-powered submarine Imperator Alexander III carried out a successful test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile, designed to carry nuclear warheads, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday.

Russia’s Test Launches Bulava ICBM

Russia’s new nuclear-powered submarine Imperator Alexander III carried out a successful test launch of the Bulava ballistic missile, designed to carry nuclear warheads, the Russian defence ministry said on Sunday. “Firing a ballistic missile is the final element of state tests, after which a decision will be made to accept the cruiser into the Navy,” the defence ministry said.

The intercontinental missile, launched from an underwater position in the White Sea off Russia’s northern coast, hit a target thousands of km away on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Russian Far East, it said.

The Borei class strategic-missile cruiser is equipped with 16 Bulava missiles and modern torpedo weapons, it said. Putin took part in a ceremony in December setting the Imperator Alexander III afloat.

The 12-metre long Bulava missile, which has an estimated range of around 8,000 km and can carry up to six nuclear warheads, has become the cornerstone in the naval part of Russia’s nuclear triad. The navy has three nuclear-powered submarines of the Borei class in service – one is completing tests and three more are under construction, the defence ministry said.

US Building Nuclear Weapon

The USA is building a nuclear weapon, touted to be 24 times more powerful than the bomb that dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The new bomb is a variation of the B61 gravity bomb developed in the 1960s, during the Cold War, and was announced by the Department of Defense last week. According to a report by Newsweek, it could kill over 300,000 Russians if it were dropped on Moscow.

Department of Defense said, ”The B61-13 would be deliverable by modern aircraft, strengthening deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets. It would replace some of the B61-7s in the current nuclear stockpile and have a yield similar to the B61-7, which is higher than that of the B61-12.”