MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti) - New generation submarines will be armed with Bulava missiles, a submarine-launched version of the country's most advanced ballistic missile, the deputy commander of the Russian navy said Wednesday.

"We have started the final stage of building the promising nuclear missile system, which will include the new Bulava naval strategic missile complex," Admiral Mikhail Zakharenko said. "Fourth generation submarines will be armed with this complex."

Last year Russia conducted successful launch tests of the Bulava, which is adapted from the Topol-M (SS-27). The first in-flight test launch was conducted September 27, 2005 from the Dmitry Donskoi, a Typhoon class ballistic missile submarine. On December 21, 2005 another Bulava was launched from the Dmitry Donskoi in the White Sea before traveling thousands of miles to hit a dummy target on the Kura test site on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was the first time a Bulava had been launched from a submerged position.

Russia's Borey-class nuclear submarines will be equipped with Bulava missiles. Two submarines are being built at the Sevmash plant in the Arkhangelsk Region. The first submarine, the Yury Dolgoruky, will be commissioned in 2006 and the second, the Alexander Nevsky, in 2007.