The Defense Ministry on Thursday acknowledged another failed test of its much-touted Bulava intercontinental missile, after unusual lights were spotted in Norway across the border from the launch site.
The submarine-based Bulava missile has been billed as Russia’s newest technological breakthrough to support its nuclear deterrent, but the repeated test failures are an embarrassment for the Kremlin.
The missile failed in its 13th test on Wednesday morning, Vedomosti and Kommersant reported Thursday, quoting defense sources.
Hours later, the Defense Ministry admitted the failure, saying the launch had been made by the Dmitry Donskoi nuclear submarine from a submerged position in the White Sea. “It has been established … that the missile’s first two stages worked as normal, but there was a technical malfunction at the next, third, stage of the trajectory,” a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Norwegian experts reported sighting of phenomena in the atmosphere near the White Sea, where earlier Bulava rockets were fired.
Footage of a spiral of white light was shown on Ren-TV, who claimed that it was filmed Wednesday in Norway. The footage also showed a bright white light with a long blue tail on the horizon.
“This is a catastrophe. … Huge funds were siphoned off from Russia’s moribund Navy for the Bulava project. In fact, billions of dollars have been flushed down the drain,” said Alexander Khramchikhin, chief analyst at the Moscow-based Institute of Military and Political Analysis.