The Russian military will not abandon plans...
The latest launch of the missile, which Russia hopes will be a key element of its nuclear forces, from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea ended in failure on December 9. Only five of 12 Bulava launches have been officially reported as being successful.
"We will certainly not give up the Bulava. I think that despite all the failures, the missile will fly," Anatoly Serdyukov said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta published on Thursday.
The minister cited a number of reasons for the failures of Bulava tests, including attempts to replace specific materials with cheaper substitutes and obsolete manufacturing equipment.
"Overall, there are a number of problems and, unfortunately, they cannot be solved as quickly as we would want," Serdyukov said.
The further development of the Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry experts, who have suggested that all efforts should be focused on the existing Sineva SLBM.