Russia successfully test-launches RSM-54 Sineva ICBM

MOSCOW (BNS): The Russian military has successfully test launched a Sineva ballistic missile from a Delta-IV class submarine in the Arctic, theRIA Novosti quoted a defence ministry spokesman as saying.

"The launch was carried out from underwater in the Barents Sea from the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine. At the expected hour, the payload of the Sineva missile arrived at the Kura range in Kamchatka in Russia's Far East," Col. Igor Konashenkov, was quoted as saying in the media reports.

The RSM-54 Sineva is a third-generation liquid-propellant ICBM that entered service with the Russian Navy in July 2007. It can carry four to 10 nuclear warheads, depending on the modification.

"The launch was designed to test the reliability of Russian marine strategic nuclear forces," Konashenkov added.

The last successful launch of a Sineva missile was completed on October 28, 2010, also from the Barents Sea.