RSM-56 Bulava

RSM-56 Bulava [1]
Bulava launched from submarine Yuri Dolgoruky on 28 October 2011
Type	SLBM
Place of origin	Russia
Service history
In service	2018–present[2]
Used by	Russian Navy
Production history
Designer	Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology
Manufacturer	Votkinsk Plant State Production Association
Unit cost	$32.2 million (2012)[3]
Produced	2011
Specifications
Mass	36.8 t (36.2 long tons; 40.6 short tons)
Length	11.5 m (38 ft) (without warhead) 12.1 m (40 ft) (launch container)
Diameter	2 m (6 ft 7 in) (missile) 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) (launch container)
Warhead	6-10 × 100-150 kt MIRVs[4][5][6]
Engine	Three stage solid and liquid head stage
Payload capacity	1150 kg
Propellant	Solid propellant and liquid fuel
Operational range	8,300 km[7] ≥ 9,300,[8] 15,000km[9][better source needed]
Guidance system	Inertial guidance, possibly with Astro-inertial guidance and/or GLONASS update
Accuracy	classified
Launch platform	Borei-class submarines Typhoon-class submarine Dmitri Donskoi (as a testbed)[10]

The RSM-56 Bulava (Russian: Булава, lit. "mace", NATO reporting name SS-NX-30 or SS-N-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.^[11] The weapon takes its name from bulava, a Russian word for mace.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14]