MOSCOW (Reuters) Jan,16 – Russia has built its first nuclear warhead for the Poseidon self-propelled super torpedo it is developing for use on the nuclear submarine Belgorod, TASS quoted an unidentified defense source on Monday. and reported.
Since his dismal New Year’s Eve message declaring the West at war with Ukraine as Russia’s true enemies, President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly signaled that Russia will not back down. He sends hypersonic missiles into the Atlantic and appoints a top general to direct the war.
Both U.S. and Russian officials have described Poseidon as a new category of retaliation weapon capable of unleashing radioactive ocean waves and rendering coastal cities uninhabitable.
“The first Poseidon ammunition has been manufactured and the Belgorod submarine will receive them in the near future,” state news agency TASS quoted a source. TASS said the main components of the Poseidon have been successfully completed, including the nuclear reactor that gives the torpedo its own power source. According to TASS, the crew of the Belgorod nuclear submarine has also completed tests with a model of the torpedo.
The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Putin was the first to unveil what would become known as the Poseidon in 2018, confirming that it would be a radically new class of strategic nuclear weapon and would have its own nuclear power supply.
Few details have been confirmed about the Poseidon, but it’s basically a cross between a torpedo and a drone that can be launched from a nuclear submarine. The Russian Ministry of Defense has released a video of the 24-meter-long Poseidon, known by NATO as Kanyon. It includes a simulation showing how an enemy aircraft carrier is destroyed and crashed on the shore.
Poseidon has its roots in Soviet plans under Joseph Stalin for nuclear torpedoes that could ravage the coast of the United States.
In a 2018 speech, Putin said that torpedoes have unlimited range and can operate at super-depths many times faster than submarines and other torpedoes.
“They are extremely silent, highly maneuverable and virtually indestructible against their opponents. There are no weapons in today’s world that can counter them,” Putin said. Poseidon will be carried by K-329 Belgorod, a special nuclear submarine built by Sebmash Shipyards.
The United States said in its 2022 Nuclear Posture Review that Russia and China “continue to expand and diversify their nuclear capabilities to include new destabilization systems.”
“Russia is pursuing several new nuclear weapons response systems designed to endanger the US homeland or its allies and partners,” the Posture Review said.
Last year, the US Naval Research Laboratory’s development of Russia’s Poseidon turned their assumptions about submarine-launched nuclear weapons on their minds.
“Perhaps most frightening of all is the potential for autonomous operation of this nuclear weapon,” the institute said.
“Her Kanyon, fully functional, would have incredible strategic impact,” one article said. “As a new delivery platform, it does not fall under current nuclear weapons treaties.”
