Months after stepping down, chief designer of the Bulava speaks

DATELINE: MOSCOW March 4

Designers are not responsible for unsuccessful test launches of Bulava sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, Moscow Heat Technology Institute general designer Yuri Solomonov said in the Nuclear Vertical book.

“The Bulava advanced strategic missile has been tested with variable success. Test launches confirmed the correctness of main characteristics, but did not achieve steady positive results,” he said.

The book gave a detailed analysis of post-Soviet problems in the Russian defense sector.

The loss of unique technologies developed by the Soviet defense sector, the Finance Ministry’s blocking of industrial modernization programs and the absence of expensive test beds were the main reason for the failure of the majority of Bulava test launches, the designer said.

Solomonov headed the institute in 1997. He supervised the development of the new strategic missile system Topol-M and tendered his resignation in July 2009 after another failure of the Bulava. Sergei Nikulin took his position in a contest organized by the Federal Space Agency. Solomonov remained the institute’s general designer.

Source: Interfax-AVN