bulgarianmilitary.com

MOSCOW, (BM) – The strategic bomber Tu-160 aircraft, hypersonic missiles “Avangard”, “Tsirkon” and S-400 missile defence systems are just a part of the arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces. The Russian Federation has even more dangerous weapon of them – the ocean bottom-based hypersonic missile, named “Skiff”, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

According the information by the U.S. non-profit organization – Missile Defense Advocacy Aliance (MDAA), the R-29RM / SS-N-23 Skiff is a liquid propelled, submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) deployed on Project 667BDRM Delfin class (Delta IV) submarines. The SS-N-23 has a range of up to 8,300 km and is generally outfitted with four MIRVs, although it has the ability to carry up to 10 warheads.

In 1998, Russia began a life-extension upgrade program to the Skiff called the Sineva. The program concluded in 2007 and the Sineva was successfully tested-fired in December 2007. Since 2007, Russia successfully test-launched the Sineva in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015.

In December 2015 the submarine, Verkhoturye, fired a Sineva missile from a submerged position in the Barents Sea to the Kura Test Range in Russia’s Far East.

At the end of the 2017, the Russian informational agenyc TASS published an interview with the Russian ex-Chief of the Aerospace Force and Head of the Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Viktor Bondarev.

“As of today, we have in our arsenal unique strategic bombers (Tu-160 aircraft), tactical missile systems with powerful ballistic and cruise missiles (the Iskander family of missile systems), Sarmat heavy missile complexes, air defense missile systems (S-400s), intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered missile cruisers with powerful anti-ship missiles (the Tsirkon hypersonic missile) and Skiff bottom missiles,” he said.

According to him “Skiff missiles hiding at the ocean bottom and is a part of the arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces”

According to public data, the Skiff experimental design work envisages developing a transport and launching container for ballistic missiles, which will make it possible to launch them from a big depth.

Bondarev also said that “precision weapons and the development of the strategic nuclear forces designated as priorities of the new stage of the Russian armament system make it possible to fulfil the tasks assigned by the head of state,”.

According Federation of American Scientists (FAS) Skiff`s propulsion system has four control chambers. The engines of all three stages are located in the tanks. The third stage propulsion system and the post-boost vehicle propulsion system use the same fuel tanks.

The warheads are placed in an internal cavity of the concave conical bottom of the upper tank of the second stage at the periphery of the sustainer of the third stage.

FAS also said that while deployed with four warheads for the START I treaty, it was originally tested with 10 warheads and might be deployed with that number in the absence of such arms control agreements.

It has been suggested that some of these liquid-fuel missiles could be deployed on land in the absence of the START agreements.

According to unconfirmed information, the Skiff missile has a built-in clock showing 30 seconds ahead time