Following fourteen years of testing, the Russian Navy finally accepted into service the D-30 missile system including R-30 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, according to a 29 June statement by the TASS news agency.
“The verification firing program, set by the military department, has been fully and successfully accomplished, the reliability of the Bulava has been proved, which removed all obstacles for the missile to be taken into service. The corresponding decision has been made, the necessary documents have been signed, ” reports TASS citing the source in the Russian military-industrial complex.
The submarine-based R-30 Bulava (NATO reporting name: SS-NX-30) is a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile making part of the D-30 launch system. The missile is designed to carry multiple warheads and has a range of around 9,500 kilometers.
The Bulava has an Astro-inertial guidance with a Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system update. It has a CEP of 350 m. This missile was designed to overcome air defenses. For this role, it carries an array of decoys. Furthermore, RVs are capable of in-flight maneuvering and re-targeting, in order to outmaneuver hostile air defenses.
TASS also noted that since 2005, about 30 test launches of the R-30 missile were carried out and about a third of them were accompanied by various technical problems. The last launch took place on May 22, 2018, when K-535 Yuri Dolgoruky submarine performed a successful salvo launch of four Bulava (SS-NX-32) intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) from the White Sea.