First Bulava launch in 2011 to be held in June

18.03.2011 First test of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Bulava will be conducted in June, said Thursday Yury Solomonov, the missile's designer-in-chief.

"Bulava will be launched no sooner than the ice would dissolve in northern latitudes; it is going to happen in June", Solomonov said.

He did not specify, however, which submarine would launch the missile. As for him, both SSBN Dmitry Donskoy and SSBN Yury Dolgoruky [Bulava standard carrier] could perform the launch. Everything hinges on degree of completion of Yury Dolgoruky, said Solomonov.

SLBM Bulava is expected to become the core element of Russia's naval strategic nuclear force; new Bulava-carrying submarines have been already laid down.

By now, 14 launches of the missile have been completed; seven of them failed. According to plan, four or five launches will be carried out in 2011, and if all of them are effective, Bulava could be commissioned.