The Russians probably wanted to check to make sure it works. It would be pretty embarrassing to have it loaded with powerful explosives and have it come down on a Russian town.
At least it didn’t blow up inside the launch silo like the SATAN-2.
“The Russians probably wanted to check to make sure it works. It would be pretty embarrassing to have it loaded with powerful explosives and have it come down on a Russian town.”
They wanted to see how effective NATO air defenses are against this weapon. They got their answer - one missile with 36 sub-munitions will be sufficient to take out 36 targets, simultaneously.
This is likely due to the West spending all their money to modify the bathrooms and showers on Trident subs to accommodate women and trannies, rather than on developing air defense capabilities.