Missile test highlights Russia nuclear upgrade

Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from one of its new nuclear-powered submarines in a test to hit a target hundreds of kilometers away, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The Bulava missile was fired from the submarine in the White Sea, off the northwest coast of Russia, toward its target in the Kura missile-testing range in the Kamchatka peninsula, the ministry said.

The country's Tass News Agency said the Borei-class submarine was submerged during the missile launch. "For the first time, the ...strategic submarine test-launched the sea-based Bulava ballistic missile," Tass reported.

The report of the missile test coincided with a report by Russia newspaper Vedomosti in which an anonymous source close to the Defense Ministry was quoted as saying a test of the latest liquid-fueled, heavy thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28, will be carried out in early 2020.

In the Vedomosti report, the plan for the RS-28 was confirmed by an executive in the defense industry.

At least five launches are reported to be planned. "If it fits the required characteristics, this missile system will be fielded in 2021," the source told Vedomosti.

Konstantin Makienko, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, said the development process of the RS-28 was fraught with problems.

The BBC said the test-firing of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from the submerged Borei-class submarine, as well as the planned testing of the RS-28, is a powerful reminder of the pace and scale of Russia's nuclear modernization.

US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who has been nominated for the position of US ambassador to Russia, said on Wednesday that the United States and Russia must discuss conditions for prolonging the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty without delay. The treaty is due to expire in 2021.