America’s enemies are getting bolder. Now they are out for blood.
And a foreign missile threat just put the Pentagon on total lockdown.
On Sunday, the Russian military announced the successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads from a new nuclear submarine.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that the Bulava missile was launched from an underwater site in Russia’s northern White Sea and hit a target in the far-eastern province of Kamchatka.
The announcement did not specify when the test launch took place.
According to Reuters, the missile is designed to carry up to six nuclear warheads, citing the Federation of American Scientists.
The Imperator Alexander III is one of the new Borei-class nuclear submarines, which each carry 16 Bulava missiles and are expected to serve as the nation’s primary naval component in the next decades.
The report comes as tensions between Russia and the West over the violence in Ukraine are rising.
To exacerbate tensions, President Vladimir Putin last week signed legislation canceling Russia’s acceptance of a global nuclear test prohibition, a step Moscow claimed was required to achieve parity with the United States.
The Russian Defense Ministry has stated that a ballistic missile launch will serve as the ship’s final test before a decision is made on its incorporation into the fleet.
According to the Defense Ministry, the Russian military now has three Borei-class submarines in service, one more is completing tests, and three more are under development.
Since taking office in 1999, Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised military spending, according to Reuters. Since the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, he has been trying to rebuild Russia’s nuclear and conventional capabilities.
With tensions between Moscow and the West at an all-time high, Putin hinted last month that Russia could begin nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades.
“Relations are at zero – or I would say below zero,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview aired on Sunday of U.S.-Russian relations, though adding that leaders from both nations would have to resume contact at some point.
“Putin has repeatedly stated that he is ready for any contacts.”
According to Russian media, the Kremlin intends to build 10 to 12 Borei-class submarines to be shared between the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Three new Borei-class submarines are being built, according to state media: the Knyaz Pozharsky, the Dmitry Donskoy, and the Knyaz Potemkin, with two more boats planned.
The Imperator Alexander III is the seventh Russian Project 955 Borei (Arctic Wind) class nuclear submarine and the fourth of the updated Borei-A type, according to Russian sources who spoke to Reuters.
According to sources, they are known as the Dolgoruky class of submarines in NATO, after the first boat, the Yuri Dolgoruky, became Russia’s first new generation of nuclear submarine launched since the Cold War.
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