A nuclear submarine of the Russian Pacific Fleet successfully fired a ballistic missile from the Sea of Okhotsk at 12:25 Moscow time (0725 GMT) on Tuesday, Itar-Tass News Agency said.  

A Defense Ministry official was quoted as saying that the missile was launched from the submerged submarine in the direction of the Chizh testing ground on Novaya Zemlya.

It is the first launch by the Pacific Fleet in 2004. Earlier, only the North Fleet submarines have performed five successful launches of sea-based intercontinental ballistic missiles to date.

The combat submarines of the Russian navy are intensively "breaking in" new-generation missiles. Thus, the team of the Dmitry Donskoi submarine of the North Fleet on Sept. 24 carried out "jump" testing of the latest ballistic missile "Bulava", according to the report.

The warhead of this intercontinental ballistic missile developed at the Moscow institute of thermal engineering is unique in its capability to change course and altitude in order to effectively overcome successive anti-missile defense lines.

The "Bulava" is expected to arm promising new-generation submarines, as well as the Typhoon-type submarines (project 941).     

The intercontinental ballistic missile launched on Tuesday has hit the training target on the Chizh testing ground on Cape Kanin Nos, aide to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy Igor Dygalo was cited by Itar-Tass as saying.

He said the successful firing of the missile "confirms the readiness of the combat management systems of the sea-based strategic nuclear forces for the accomplishment of this kind of assignments."

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2004)