🇷🇺🚀☢️Three weeks after France and three and a half months after China, it is now the Russian Navy's turn to demonstrate the operational and technological credibility of its sea-based nuclear component, with a BULAVA ballistic missile (SLBM) launch expected from a BOREI(-A)-class SSBN, from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Chizha impact area in northeastern Russia. This launch is very interesting and eagerly awaited for at least two reasons: - Russian strategic forces usually conduct a major exercise every October. However, a surprise exercise already took place in May this year. The question was (and still is) whether it would replace the October one. This launch could indicate that it did not. That said, we will have to wait to know whether other strategic weapons launches (YARS ICBMs, Kh-102 cruise missiles, etc.) take place over the same period. For now, it's only one launch; - The BULAVA is the Russian Navy's most recent SLBM and is the delivery vehicle that carries the largest number of operational nuclear warheads in the country's arsenal. Yet it has not been launched since October 2024, while its predecessor, the SINEVA, has been launched several times since then, including last May. Moreover, the latest BOREI-A-class SSBN was commissioned without the usual qualification launch. It is therefore possible that the weapon system (the missile or the submarine) is experiencing technical problems. If successful, the launch planned for next week would therefore reaffirm the technological and operational credibility of this system, which is critical to Russian deterrence. Wait and see now ⏲️