Tests of Russia’s new Bulava-M (NATO reporting name SS-NX-30) sea-launched ballistic missile will be completed in 2008, the Navy commander said on Friday.

“The missile will fly, and will fly this year,” Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky told journalists.

He linked the missile’s previous unsuccessful launches to technical problems, which “can be resolved.”

The Bulava, designed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, will be carried by Borei-class Project 955 nuclear powered submarines, each to be outfitted with sixteen missiles.