MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Navy Thursday test launched a Bulava ballistic missile, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said.

    The Bulava missile was launched from a submerged submarine cruiser Dmitry Donskoi and its warheads hit targets at the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east.

    The telemetric information on the launch and missile flight was still being processed, but even the early data indicated that the mission had performed in the scheduled mode, the official was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

    The Bulava, designed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, is carried by Borey-class Project 955 nuclear-powered submarines.

    Fourth-generation Borey-class nuclear-powered submarines armed with Bulava missiles will form the core of Russia's fleet of modern strategic submarines.

    The first submarine in the series, the Yury Dolgoruky, will soon join the Russian Navy. It will be equipped with 16 Bulava ballistic missiles, each carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads and having a range of 8,000 kilometers.