The Russian Northern Fleet’s Project 955 Borei-class nuclear submarine Yury Dolgoruky successfully test-fired a Bulava Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Bulava is Russia’s cutting-edge Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). Equipped with 10 warheads with a 9,000-kilometer range, it is even capable of withstanding nuclear attack.

“The Yury Dolgoruky… successfully test-fired a Bulava ICBM from the designated area in the Barents Sea at the Kura range in Kamchatka,” the statement said.

The launch was made from an underwater position in accordance with the combat training plan, the ministry said. The parameters of the flight trajectory of the Bulava ICBMs have been worked out in the regular mode.

According to the confirmed control data, ICBM combat units completed the full flight cycle and successfully hit the targets at the test site, the Ministry added.

Intercontinental ballistic missile R-30 Bulava should become primary weapon for ballistic missile submarines of the Borei class (Project 955), which is intended to replace the Delta III, Delta IV and Typhoon classes now in Russian Navy service.

The main submarine of this project is Yury Dolgoruky.

In an interview with Sputnik, military expert Viktor Baranets described the Bulava as “a very serious weapon.”

“The successful test of the sea-launched Bulava ICBM means that this project is moving ahead. It is a very serious and powerful weapon, and the more successful tests we have, the more willing our Navy will be to take on board this powerful weapon,” Baranets said.

He added that the tests of the Bulava ICBM were being closely watched by the West.

“I think this launch sends a message to the West that Russia keeps its Armed Forces in a high degree of combat readiness and that the Navy is being armed with advanced new weapons,” Viktor Baranets noted.

Floated out in 2009, the Yuri Dolgoruky is the lead vessel of the Project 955 Borey-class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. It is 170 meters long, has a displacement of 24,000 tons and can carry up to 16 Bulava-30 ballistic missiles.

The fourth-generation Borey and Borey-A submarine missile cruisers armed with Bulava ICBMs are designated to become the backbone of Russia’s sea-based strategic nuclear forces in the coming decades.

Russia currently has three such submarines, and five more are under construction to join the Russian Navy before 2020.