27/7 Tass 320
MOSCOW, July 27 (Itar-Tass) – The Yekaterinburg nuclear-powered submarine successfully test-launched a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday.
Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said “the Yekaterinburg, under command or Captain Igor Stepanenko, successfully test-launched a Sineva ICBM from the Barents Sea.”
The missile hit a designated target on the Kamchatka peninsula, Konashenkov said.
“The missile was fired from underwater to test the reliability the naval component of the strategic nuclear forces,” the Defense Ministry said.
The three-stage, liquid-fuelled submarine-launched missile RSM-54 Sineva was designed by the Makeyev state missile center. The missile is designed to hit small-size highly protected targets. The missile control system is autonomous, inertial and features stellar guidance. The warhead consists of four nuclear re-entry vehicles with separate targeting. This missile system can make multiple and separate launches from a submarine at a depth of up to 55 meters and a speed up to seven knots (about 13 kilometers per hour).
The missile system, which is installed on the nuclear submarines project 667 BDRM Delfin, consists of 16 Sineva units. Russia presently has six such submarines.
Its length is 167 meters, width – 12 meters and displacement – 12,000 tons. The maximum diving depth is 400 meters, and cruise speed underwater is up to 24 knots (44.5 kilometers per hour). It has a crew of 140.
In July 2007,the Russian president signed a decree to add the Sineva system to the Navy’s arsenal.
It has been the third launch of Sineva since the beginning of this year. The previous two were performed on April 26 and May 20. Both were successful.