Russia has successfully tested a new submarine-launched intercontinental missile designed to carry nuclear warheads.
The Defense Ministry in Moscow said the Bulava missile was launched Friday from a nuclear submarine cruising below the surface of the Barents Sea in the arctic.
The ministry said the missile's test payload reached its destination on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. The Bulava rocket is said to have a range of 8,000 kilometers and can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads.
The Bulava ("mace") missile has been in development since 2009. Many earlier tests ended in failure, but the missile was declared operational last month, and is considered a key part of Russia's "triad" of nuclear deterrents - weapons launched from land, sea or air.
