The Mace Strike: how Russia conquered the depths of the ocean
Today, Russia's strategic nuclear forces are recognized as the most modern on the planet: the share of the latest systems in them has reached a record 92%. The success of the Bulava program, the first underwater launch of which was completed 20 years ago, played a key role in this. While the United States and Great Britain continue to operate the Ohio and Vanguard series of boats built in the last century, Russia has completed the formation of a backbone of eight cruisers of projects 955 and 955A. About how the replacement of the problematic "Bark" with a unified "Bulava" allowed the fleet to make a technological breakthrough and ensure the country's security in the coming decades — in the Izvestia material.
How was the development of the Bulava rocket going?
The eastern fist of the naval nuclear forces consists of five Borey project cruisers, which are part of the 25th Submarine Division in Kamchatka. Three more Boreas, as well as five Project 667BDRM submarines, are part of the western fist of the fleet — the 31st Submarine Division on the Kola Peninsula. Two Project 955A boats are under construction, and new ones may be ordered.
The missile system itself, consisting of Boreas with a Bulava missile, was adopted by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 7, 2024. This summed up the decades of work on this weapon system.
A serviceman of the Russian Navy watches the launch of a Bulava ballistic missile from the strategic missile submarine of the Northern Fleet Yuri Dolgoruky from a designated area in the Barents Sea at the Kura test site in Kamchatka.
The decision to develop the Bulava rocket was made in 1998 at the same time as the decision to discontinue the development of the R-39UTTH rocket, also known as the Bark. The fact is that the Bark rocket used elements previously produced at Ukrainian enterprises. Their replacement with Russian counterparts has led to a deterioration in performance. In addition, a number of launches were unsuccessful. Therefore, the country's leadership has set the task of creating a new underwater-based missile system, as unified as possible with the land-based missile being created. The contractor was chosen by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering (MIT), an enterprise that previously dealt exclusively with land—based mobile complexes.
The lead boat of the Dmitry Donskoy project 941 was chosen as the testbed for Bulava. In general, the ships of this series were carriers of the R-39 missiles, but since the latter had expired their warranty period in the late 1990s, the boats were withdrawn from the Navy and partially disposed of as part of the reduction of strategic forces under international treaties.
MIT, which had previously created the Topol mobile ground-based missile system, took up the work in broad cooperation. It was not possible to create a missile suitable for both land-based and ship-based, because they have completely different requirements. But individual elements and systems, as well as technologies implemented on the Topol rocket, found their place on the Bulava. This made it possible to reduce the development time and save finances.
Heavy nuclear-powered missile submarine Dmitry Donskoy
The first launch test of the mock-up with the launch of the first stage was carried out from aboard the Dmitry Donskoy boat on December 10, 2003, the first underwater launch of the mock-up was carried out on September 23, 2004. The achieved test results of the rocket's mockups, systems and assemblies were converted into flight tests. On September 27, 2005, the Bulava launched from a surface position, and 30 minutes later the warheads reached the Kura test site in Kamchatka. And 20 years ago, on December 21, 2005, the first underwater launch was carried out. This is how strategic submarine cruisers should use intercontinental missiles.
In the future, the rocket was being developed, various production defects were eliminated, cooperation and control over the manufacture of rocket systems and elements were built. As a result, the required quality of ammunition production was achieved, and since October 2010, there have been no more unsuccessful launches.
The basis of naval strategic nuclear forces
In parallel, the construction of the Bulava lead carrier ship was underway. The Yuri Dolgoruky boat of Project 955 was launched in 2007, and on June 28, 2011, the Bulava was first launched from its side. Construction of a series of such ships has begun. Moreover, the first three used elements of nuclear submarines discontinued in the early 90s. The project was also adjusted, as a result, construction is underway from the fourth building according to project 955A. As a result, on July 24, 2025, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Navy flag was raised on the eighth cruiser of the 955 and 955A family, the Prince Pozharsky.
Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in a flag-raising ceremony over the nuclear submarine missile carrier Knyaz Pozharsky in Severodvinsk on July 24, 2025.
— Such ships form the basis of the naval strategic nuclear forces and, taking into account the modernization resource, will ensure the security of our state in the coming decades. "Prince Pozharsky is equipped with the most effective electronic equipment and shock weapons, including Bulava ballistic missiles, as well as modern torpedo systems and sonar countermeasures," the president said at the ceremony.
The very history of the Russian naval strategic nuclear forces began in the late 1950s, when the creation of underwater launch missile systems began. The first successful underwater launch of the R-21 missile of the D-4 complex took place on February 24, 1962 from aboard the diesel-electric submarine of the 629B K-142 project, and the first underwater launch from aboard the nuclear submarine of the 658 K-19 project was made on December 14, 1963. Since that time, Russia's strategic nuclear forces have also had their own underwater component, and Russia has become one of two countries armed with a full range of land-based, sea-based and air-based strategic nuclear forces.
At the same time, Russia's strategic forces are currently the most modern compared to other states. On December 17, at an expanded meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense, Vladimir Putin said: "Our nuclear shield is more modern than the nuclear component of any official nuclear power." According to him, the share of modern nuclear forces systems is 92%, and there is no such thing in any nuclear country in the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at an expanded meeting of the Board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on December 17, 2025
For comparison, the U.S. Navy has 14 Ohio family boats built between 1974 and 1997, and the British Royal Navy has four Vanguard boats built from 1986 to 1999. These submarines are armed with the Trident missile system. It is effective and has undergone a number of upgrades, but, of course, it is far from new. Moreover, the Columbia and Dreadnought families of boats under construction in the United States and Great Britain, respectively, are expected to accommodate the same, once again modernized complex.
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