After the successful completion of the "Bulava" missile mock-up tests, its first launch took place on September 27, 2005, in the White Sea. The launch was carried out from the submarine "Dmitry Donskoy" in a surface position, with the target being the "Kura" training ground located in Kamchatka. The missile covered a distance of over 5.5 thousand km in approximately 14 minutes, and its warheads successfully reached their designated targets.
How it all began
In November 1997, the heads of economic and defense departments, Yakov Urinson and Igor Sergeev, proposed to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin to combine the development of missiles for the fleet and strategic forces, entrusting this task to the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology (MITT). The head of MITT, Yuri Solomonov, was tasked with developing a universal ballistic missile.
MITT had significant experience in creating missile technology, in particular, the "Topol" and "Topol-M" missile systems, which became the main ones in the Strategic Missile Forces. The "Yars" complex, also developed by MITT, is considered more modern. It was then that work began on a new missile for submarines, named "Bulava."
The design of the "Bulava" used some elements of land-based missiles, but the production features necessary for naval missiles were not taken into account. A major modernization of the "Yuri Dolgoruky" submarine was required.
The Makeyev State Rocket Centre acted as an alternative developer of missiles for submarines. Nevertheless, the center was not left without work, developing the "Liner", "Skif", "Sarmat" missiles for the Strategic Missile Forces, as well as participating in space programs.
The choice in favor of the solid-propellant "Bulava" was due to the desire to match Western developments, such as the American "Trident" and "Trident II". The "Trident II" with a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle had a range of 11,300 km and high accuracy.
Refinements and trial operation
The refinement of the "Bulava" turned out to be long and complex. Three launches carried out from September to December 2006 were unsuccessful. Missiles launched from surface and underwater positions either fell into the sea or self-destructed. Then followed three partially successful stages of firing. And again failures - in December 2008 and August 2009. After that, MITT Director Yuri Solomonov even resigned, remaining the general designer. The company believed that the cause of the test launches with unsatisfactory results was a violation of production technology, and the naval sailors explained what happened by a "floating" failure in the operation of the missile systems, which occurred in different nodes.
Solid-propellant missiles are easier to maintain and safer than liquid-propellant missiles, and their design is more durable. Liquid-propellant missiles, on the other hand, have a higher specific impulse and weight advantage at large sizes.
"Bulava" uses a "dry start", which reduces the likelihood of detecting a submarine, while liquid-propellant missiles require preliminary filling of the silo with water, creating noise.
"Work on errors" was carried out promptly. Six launches conducted at the end of 2010 and in 2011 (under the same conditions and ranges) were successful. In 2012, the "Bulava" was adopted by the Russian Navy.