RSM-56 Bulava

RSM-56 Bulava
Bulava launched from submarine Yuri Dolgoruky on 28 October 2011
TypeSLBM
Place of originRussia
Service history
In service2018–present
Used byRussian Navy
Production history
DesignerMoscow Institute of Thermal Technology
ManufacturerVotkinsk Plant State Production Association
Unit cost$32.2 million (2012)
Produced2011
Specifications
Mass36.8 t (36.2 long tons; 40.6 short tons)
Length11.5 m (38 ft) (without warhead)
12.1 m (40 ft) (launch container)
Diameter2 m (6 ft 7 in) (missile)
2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) (launch container)
Warhead6-10 × 100-150 kt MIRVs

EngineThree stage solid and liquid head stage
Payload capacity1150 kg
PropellantSolid propellant and liquid fuel
Operational
range
8,300 km ≥ 9,300, 10,000km
Guidance
system
Inertial guidance, possibly with Astro-inertial guidance and/or GLONASS update
Accuracy250-300 m CEP
Launch
platform
Borei-class submarines
Typhoon-class submarine Dmitri Donskoi (as a testbed)

The RSM-56 Bulava (Russian: Булава, lit. "mace", NATO reporting names SS-N-30 / SS-NX-32, GRAU index 3M30, 3K30) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) developed for the Russian Navy and deployed in 2019 on the new Borei class of ballistic missile nuclear submarines. It is intended to serve as a crucial component of Russia's nuclear triad. The weapon takes its name from bulava, a Russian word for mace.

Designed by Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, development of the missile was launched in the late 1990s as a replacement for the R-39 Rif solid-fuel SLBM. The Project 955/955A Borei-class submarines carry 16 missiles per vessel.

A source in the Russian defense industry told TASS on June 29, 2018, that the D-30 missile system with the R-30 Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile had been accepted for service in the Russian Navy after its successful four-missile salvo launch tests in 2018.