The head of Russia's navy admitted Sunday that a new missile that has failed six of 11 test-firings was not "ideal," but said Russia was not giving up on it, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
The comments by Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky came 10 days after the latest failure of the submarine-launched Bulava missile, a flagship project in Russia's drive to renew its ageing Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.
"The Bulava itself is not the absolute ideal of 21st-century weaponry. It is a step towards this idea," Vysotsky said in an interview with RIA-Novosti.
"Moving forward, it is necessary to complete its development…. We've done a certain amount of groundwork and we will not reconsider the programme to develop a new generation of ballistic missiles under the name Bulava."
Vysotsky was speaking in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, home of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which he was visiting for celebrations of Russia's annual Navy Day holiday.
The Russian defence ministry confirmed on July 16 that a Bulava had exploded shortly after launch from a nuclear-powered submarine off northern Russia, the latest in a string of embarrassing failures of the project.
The Bulava's main designer resigned after the failure, which defence experts described as a major setback as Russia seeks to completely revamp its nuclear arsenal by 2020.
The Bulava, which can be equipped with up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles).
It is the sea-based version of the Topol-M, Russia's new surface-to-surface intercontinental missile, and designed to be launched from Moscow's newest Borei class of submarines.
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