Russians Shoot Missile Over 7,000 Miles

(Severomorsk, Russia) Today, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was test launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea, ultimately landing in an area on the equator in the Pacific Ocean, said the Russian Navy Information and Public Relations spokesman, Igor Dygalo.


Russian Missile Submarine

The spokesman said the Sineva missile was launched from the nuclear-powered submarine, Tula, based in the Arctic Barents Sea during military exercises observed by President Dmitry Medvedev.

"For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy the target of the missile was in an equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean rather than the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula," he said.

The spokesman did not specify the area where Russia's newest missile landed. The Sineva missile was introduced into Russia's arsenal last year.

"The area where the dummy warhead landed is legally part of an open sea and the area was closed to navigation and flights at the time of the exercise," he said.

President Medvedev said the missile flew 7,170 miles, its maximum range. Unfortunately, past performance of submarine-based missile systems has been inconsistent with a large number of failed tests.

Earlier this month, Russia announced a dramatic rearmament program with plans for eight new nuclear submarines by 2015 and four new aircraft carriers. Currently, the Russian military, particularly the Navy, is generally considered to have been neglected for the past decade.