Russia suspends tests of 2 nuclear subs after failed missile launch

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has issued orders to suspend the testing of two nuclear-powered submarines - the Aleksandr Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh - and to carry out five extra launches of inter-continental ballistic missiles Bulava following a failed launch of one missile of that type. “On Friday, the strategic nuclear powered submarine the Aleksandr Nevsky fired an inter-continental missile Bulava from the White Sea at the Kura test range in the Kamchatka Peninsula. The missile left the launch container normally, but its onboard system failed during the second minute in flight,” a Defence Ministry spokesman told the media on Saturday. According to the official Shoigu made a decision to suspend the certification tests of the Aleksandr Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh submarines and to make five extra launches of the Bulava missile in order to verify its technical parameters. “A commission under the Russian Navy’s commander-in-chief, Admiral Vladimir Chirkov, is looking into the causes of the Bulava missile’s failed launch,” the Defence Ministry’s spokesman has said.