25 mars 2014. Portail des Sous-Marins

L’Inde a lancé avec succès un missile balistique à capacité nucléaire, d’une portée de plus de 2.000 km, depuis une plateforme sous-marine.

Le missile, qui pourra être lancé depuis des sous-marins, a été testé lundi depuis le golfe du Bengale et tous les paramètres ont été atteints, explique le ministère indien de la défense.

Le missile est destiné à équiper le sous-marin nucléaire lanceur d’engins INS Arihant qui devrait bientôt commencer ses essais à la mer.

Référence : Business Standard (Inde)

MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti)

The latest failed launch of Russia’s new submarine-launched ballistic missile was caused by a manufacturing glitch, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

On September 6, a Bulava missile fired during state trials of the ballistic missile submarine Alexander Nevsky in the White Sea failed in the second minute of flight. A state commission led by the head of the Russian Navy, Admiral Viktor Chirkov, has carried out an investigation into the failed launch.

“The commission has finished the investigation. The causes of the failure are related to faulty manufacturing of the missile’s nozzle,” Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said at a roundtable conference on state defense contracts held by RIA Novosti.

Borisov said the same flaw had been fixed on three remaining missiles in the same production batch, but claimed that production of the missile in general was “technologically sound.”

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has previously ordered five additional launches of the Bulava missile following a failed launch on September 6. They have been slated for next year, Borisov said.

With the latest flop, eight of 19 or 20 test launches of the Bulava have officially been declared failures. Some analysts have suggest the real number may be considerably higher, however.

The three-stage Bulava SLBM carries up to 10 independent warheads and has a range of 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).

Despite the test failures, the Russian military has insisted there is no alternative to the Bulava as the main armament for Russia’s new Borey-class strategic missile submarines.

The first Borey-class boat, the Yury Dolgoruky, was commissioned into the Northern Fleet in January.

Sept. 10, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: RIA Novosti; published Sept. 7, 2013)

Russia Puts Submarine Trials on Hold After Bulava Failure

MOSCOW --- Russia has put trials of two nuclear subs on hold following an unsuccessful launch of a Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) on Friday, a Russian defense ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

“The day before, a Bulava SLBM was fired toward the Kura test site in Kamchatka [in Far East] during state trials of the Alexander Nevsky nuclear-powered submarine in the White Sea,” the spokesman told journalists, adding that the rocket experienced a malfunction in one of its systems on the second minute of the flight.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered to halt state trials of the Borey-class Alexander Nevsky and the Vladimir Monomakh submarines, designed to carry Bulava, and to hold five additional launches of the troubled SLBM, the spokesman said.

A state commission led by the Russian Navy Commander Adm. Viktor Chirkov will investigate the reason for the unsuccessful launch.

The Alexander Nevsky submarine was expected to be handed over to the Navy on November 15, while the other Borey-class sub, the Vladimir Monomakh, will join the fleet in mid-December, Russia’s Sevmash shipyard chief Mikhail Budnichenko said in early July.

However, the commissioning of both of those submarines depends on the success of the Bulava test launch. The spokesman did not elaborate on how the failure would affect the schedule.

The three-stage Bulava carries up to 10 MIRV warheads, has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles) and is designed for deployment on Borey-class nuclear submarines.

With Friday’s failure, eight of 19 or 20 test launches of the troubled Bulava have been officially declared unsuccessful. However, some analysts suggest that in reality the number of failures is considerably higher.

Despite several previous failures officially blamed on manufacturing faults, the Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava.

Aug. 23, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: House of Commons Library; published August 13, 2013)

Update on the Trident Successor Programme - Commons Library Standard Note

The programme to replace the UK’s nuclear deterrent from 2028 onwards continues apace. In December 2012 the Government published its first update report to Parliament on the progress of the Trident renewal programme and in July 2013 published the Trident Alternatives Review. That review was commissioned in 2011 in order to assist the Liberal Democrats in making a case for potential alternatives to the like-for-like replacement of Trident, as stipulated in the 2010 Coalition Agreement.

This note briefly examines the progress that has been made since Initial Gate on the programme was passed in May 2011, including the contracts that have been placed to date and the estimated costs of the replacement programme.

It also looks at wider issues such as the Trident Alternatives Review and the potential impact of the Scottish referendum on independence which is expected in autumn 2014.


Click here for the full report (20 PDF pages) on the UK Parliament website.

The Agni-V is based on the Agni-III, shown here

during its fourth test flight. (Photo: DRDO)

October 22, 2012 By Debak Das, Research Intern / Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) – defpro.com

Missile testing is currently at an all time high in South Asia. The Indian Navy’s successful test of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile on 6 October 2012, was the third missile test this month with at least another test (the indigenously built Nirbhay cruise missile) expected in October. The flurry of missile tests in the last few months conducted by both India and Pakistan indicates a competition of one-upmanship that may have negative consequences for strategic stability in the region. In this context, it is important to ascertain what kinds of danger are posed by the testing of such strategic and non-strategic missiles. Can persistent missile testing in the region contain the potential to destabilise South Asian strategic stability?

MISSILES TESTED

The year 2012 has reportedly seen India acquire ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) and SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile) capacity with the successful testing of the Agni V and the Sagarika/K-15. The Agni V’s declared range of 5000 kms though does not technically qualify it to be an ICBM. Nevertheless, Pakistan and China have not been silent spectators. Pakistan’s response to the Agni V was the intermediate range ballistic missile Shaheen 1A. But the more recent test of the nuclear capable Hatf-VII Babur stealth cruise missile is a more worrying development from the Indian perspective. The Hatf-VII not only possesses the capacity to penetrate advanced air defence systems and ballistic missile defence systems but its range of 700kms also makes this low flying terrain hugging stealth missile a major threat to a large part of North India.

The Indian response to the challenge laid down by the Hatf-VII has been the BrahMos cruise missile that has been jointly developed by the Engineering Research and Production Association of Russia with the Indian DRDO (Defense Research and Development Organisation). The latest version of the BrahMos tested this week was an anti ship missile that flies at a speed of Mach 2.8 and is designed to hit all classes of warships. The Tribune reports that the Talwar class frigate INS Teg, from which the test was conducted has already been armed with this type of missile and two other frigates from the same class – INS Tarkash and INS Trikand shall also be armed with the missile in vertical launch mode.

Meanwhile, according to DRDO Director General, V.K.Saraswat, the turbo jet powered 1000km range subsonic cruise missile, Nirbhay is also ready to be tested this month. This missile shall reportedly possess loitering capability, making it possible to change its target after being fired.

RECENT MISSILE TESTS IN SOUTH ASIA (SINCE AGNI V)*

• 19 April

- Missile: Agni V

- Type: ICBM (3-10 MIRV)

- Range: 5000km + (Chinese dispute, 8000km)

- Payload: 1500kg

- Nuclear: Yes

• 25 April

- Missile: Shaheen IA

- Type: IRBM

- Range: 2500-3000km (estd) (officially not released)

- Payload: 200-300kg (Nuclear Warhead), 500-600kg (Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 25 August

- Missile: Prithvi II

- Type: SRBM (user trial by Army)

- Range: 5000km + (Chinese dispute, 8000km)

- Payload: 500kg (Nuclear and Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 17 September

- Missile: Hatf VII Babur

- Type: Cruise Missile (Stealth)

- Range: 700km

- Payload: 450kg (Nuclear and Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 19 September

- Missile: Agni IV

- Type: IRBM

- Range: 4000km

- Payload: 1 Tonne Nuclear Warhead

- Nuclear: Yes

• 21 September

- Missile: Agni III

- Type: IRBM

- Range: 3000km

- Payload: 1.5 Tonnes (Nuclear and Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 4 October

- Missile: Prithvi II (User trial by the Army)

- Type: SRBM

- Range: 350km

- Payload: 500kg (Nuclear and Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 5 October

- Missile: Dhanush (Sea Variant of the Prithvi)

- Type: SRBM

- Range: 350km

- Payload: 500kg (Nuclear and Conventional)

- Nuclear: Yes

• 6 October

- Missile: BrahMos

- Type: Cruise Missile (Super Sonic)

- Range: 290km

- Payload: 300kg

- Nuclear: No

• Expected in November

- Missile: Nirbhay

- Type: Cruise Missile (Sub Sonic)

- Range: 1000km

- Payload: Undisclosed

- Nuclear: -

IMPLICATIONS FOR STRATEGIC STABILITY

Missile testing ostensibly showcases technological development and strength. But the way India and Pakistan have generated visibility for their respective missile development programmes is a definite case of both the defence establishments trying to ‘outflex’ each other.

These developments are not favourable to South Asian strategic stability, which is precariously balanced on the notion of nuclear deterrence. The recent spate of non strategic weapons tests can only destabilise the region. Indian superiority over Pakistan’s conventional military strength has been hitherto undisputed. The entry of the Hatf-VII changes this equation by making a huge part of North Indian territory vulnerable to attack in a more cost effective manner than building ballistic missiles.

Indian knee jerk responses, having already tested the 4000km range Agni IV ballistic missile and the BrahMos in October, as well as the expected test of the Nirbhay is sure to coax Pakistan into reciprocating. The frequent reminder of one’s capability to penetrate the other’s defences is not a healthy or intelligent roadmap towards attaining or maintaining strategic stability. It is believed though, that this is a part of a larger strategy by India to lure Pakistan into a ‘race’ that the latter can neither win, nor economically support. If that is indeed the case, Indian policy makers must be reminded that an economically drained Pakistan, plunged headlong towards internal instability is not in the best interests of Indian security. As the dominant South Asian power too, Indian actions should be responsibly guided towards larger regional stability. Accentuating the security dilemma does not fit that bill.

____

*This is a list collated with information available from public sources. The details of some of the payloads and ranges are meant to be indicative and not exact. Certain Missiles have been tested multiple times. The list only indicated the last date of test.