The Russian military on Thursday successfully tested a strategic missile from a submarine in the Arctic, Russia's federal space agency said.

"A Sineva missile was launched on March 4 at 7:50 am Moscow time (0450 GMT) from the Tula rocket-carrying submarine in the Barents Sea. The launch was successful," the agency said in a statement.

The Sineva is an intercontinental missile capable of carrying up to 10 nuclear warheads, according to the website GlobalSecurity.org.

The missile, whose NATO reporting name is the SS-N-23 Skiff, has been in service with the Russian military since 2007.

The successful test-firing of the Sineva comes after a series of embarrassing failures of another submarine-launched missile that Russia is developing, the Bulava.

Russia has announced plans for a large-scale rearmament and renewal of its nuclear missile arsenal.