Russia test-fires ballistic missile

Published August 8, 2007

MOSCOW, Aug 7: Russia successfully test fired a ballistic missile from a strategic nuclear missile submarine in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, a navy spokesman said.

“The strategic nuclear missile submarine Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky... successfully fired a ballistic missile as part of military exercises at a testing range in northern Russia,” the spokesman Igor Dygalo said.

The Interfax-AVN news agency reported that the missile was of the new long-range Sineva, or RSM-54 type, acquired for use by the navy last month.

Dygalo declined to confirm this. The Delta-class submarine used in the test dates from the Soviet era and was designed to attack cities and military installations.—AFP