MOSCOW, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- On Sept. 18 the heavy Akula-class Project 941 nuclear submarine cruiser Dmitry Donskoi -- NATO submarine class designation Typhoon -- side number TK-208, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, RSM-56 Bulava-M -- NATO designation SS-NX-30.

The launch took place from a submerged position in the White Sea, and, as a naval spokesman said, "The warhead arrived at the test site Kura in Kamchatka as scheduled. Although telemetric data are still being processed, it can be said that the launch and flight proceeded without a hitch," and the missile successfully hit its intended target, he added.

The jury is still out on whether this is true. Tests of the Bulava, a missile designed to be installed on the new Borey-class Project 955 nuclear-powered undersea cruiser Yury Dolgoruky and her sister ships Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh, currently under construction at the Sevmash factory in the city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region, are conducted amid tight secrecy.

Information, whether good or bad, comes in drips and drabs, sometimes long after launches are made and from unnamed and classified sources.

Russia's navy pins great hopes on the Bulava, which has been plagued by problems for 15 years. The missile is also the focus of intrigue, with some designers wishing it good luck and others good riddance.