A new intercontinental ballistic missile, Bulava, has been successfully tested in Russia. It was launched from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea and hit its target on the Far East Kamchatka peninsula.

Earlier, tests of the rocket, which has been hailed as a key future component of Russia's nuclear arsenal, ended in failure, raising questions about the efficiency of the missile.

According to a Russian navy spokesman, Igor Dygalo, this time the test passed without complications.

“At noon today the atomic submarine strategic-purpose cruiser Dmitry Donskoy under the command of Captain Romanov carried out a successful launch of the up-to-date Bulava ballistic missile. The warhead of the intercontinental submarine-based Bulava missile reached its target at the scheduled time. The launch was carried out from underwater within a programme to test the design and flight of the system. All trajectories of the launch were a complete success,” Igor Dygalo commented.