From Russia with love . . .

The Russian navy has been developing new versions of its submarine-launched ballistic missiles for some time now. There are at least two different systems thought to be close to deployment, one liquid-fueled and one solid. This story, based on Russian defense releases, focuses primarily on the liquid fueled version.

The weapon is positioned in this report from a Russian English-language news service as an answer to anti-ballistic missile systems, another interesting spin. From the news site, RT:

The new Russian liquid-fuel Liner missile is world’s most advanced submarine-based strategic weapon with range and payload capabilities surpassing every model deployed by any other country, its developer says.
The submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) Liner can carry up to 12 low-yield MIRV nuclear warheads and has a payload/mass ratio surpassing any solid-fuel strategic missiles designed by the US, UK, France and China, the developer Makeyev State Rocket Center said in a statement. It is very flexible in terms of what its payload can be, varying and mixing warheads of different capabilities.
The design bureau believes that the missile, which was first tested on May 20, will ensure the use of Delta IV class submarines until at least 2030.
There are seven vessels of this class in the Russian Navy, and they are armed with the SLMBs Sineva. The Liner is a highly advanced version of the Sineva missile.
There is little further detail about the Liner’s specifications so far. Sineva is a three-stage ballistic missile. It has a reported operational range of almost 12,000 kilometers, listed throw-weigh of 2.8 tonnes and can be launched from up to 55 meters deep.
More here: http://rt.com/news/new-nuclear-submarine-missile/

Interestingly enough, the story goes on to list some of the main drawbacks of liquid-fueled weapons -- namely weight and complexity. (Not that any rocket or nuclear warhead is a simple device.)

The Russians have had their share of development problems, of course, especially with solid-fueled tech, as this video from last year shows:



The timing of the new story may have been completely coincidental, but it seems interesting to me that it comes as the international press begins picking up on China's progress with aircraft carriers. It's not that the missile is counter to the carriers. Rather, it seemed more like someone saying, hey, we're doing cool stuff too.