Russia navy missile self-destructs
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Russia's largest military exercise in more than two decades suffered a couple of embarrassing setbacks. CNN's Ryan Chilcote reports
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MOSCOW, Russia -- A Russian navy ballistic missile self-destructed after going off course during a test, following its launch from a submarine in the Barents Sea, according to the Russian navy press service.
The navy statement said the launch went according to plan for the first 98 seconds, but the missile then began veering off its programmed flight path. At that point, the missile's self-destruct mechanism took over.
The malfunction on Wednesday happened during Russia's largest military exercises in more than two decades, being overseen by President Vladimir Putin.
Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that the missile launched from the Karelia submarine of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea was "destroyed by its self-liquidation system after deviating from its set trajectory."
No one was hurt, he added. An official investigation into the possible causes of the incident had been launched, he added.
Dygalo said that the missile was launched at a practice target on a testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. He did not identify the missile.
According to the Russian media reports, the Karelia carries 16 RSM-54 missiles, each equipped with four independently-targeted warheads.
The failed launch followed an incident Tuesday in which a scheduled missile launch from the Northern Fleet's Novomoskovsk submarine was called off amid contradictory official statements, according to AP.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
