Russia will press ahead with its Bulava missile programme, the country's defence minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday, despite another failed test launch earlier this month.

"We are certainly not going to cancel Bulava," Anatoly Serdyukov told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview to be published Thursday, parts of which were obtained by Interfax news agency.

"There's a whole series of problems and unfortunately we can not resolve them as quickly as we would like," he added. "Nevertheless, I believe that the missile will fly."

The latest test over Russia's White Sea on December 10 ended in failure, owing to "instability" in the Bulava's engine.

The submarine-launched missile, which can be equipped with up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads, will have a maximum range of 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) when fully operational.

It is central to Russia's plan to revamp its ageing weapons arsenal, but has been dogged by persistent technical problems.