(Image: Russian Defense Ministry)
Russia’s Poseidon—also known in the United States as Kanyon, Ocean Multipurpose System, and Status-6—was first revealed by the Russian Navy in 2015 and reportedly tested for the first time in November 2016. The torpedo—a nuclear-powered underwater drone equipped with nuclear weapons—is designed to be launched from submarines. The first Poseidon is expected to be deployed by 2027.
There is buzz that this new weapon is poised to shake the landscape of modern warfare. And this may owe less to its borrowed name than to some unmatched features—at least on paper.
Powered by a compact nuclear reactor, it is believed the Poseidon could travel at unprecedented speeds of 100 knots (185 kilometers per hour), have a range of approximately 10,000 kilometers, and operate at depths of up to 1,000 meters. Designed to evade detection by acoustic tracking devices and other traps, the Poseidon has a diameter of approximately 1.6 to two meters. Particularly riveting is the torpedo’s devastating payload: a nuclear warhead with a likely yield of at least several megatons (with early reports suggesting it could yield up to 100 megatons). For comparison, Russia’s Tsar Bomba—the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested—had an estimated blast yield of about 50 megatons.
While some reports claim that Russia’s Poseidon may exist only as a propaganda scheme, experts generally agree that the system is “very real” and has received significant resources from the Russian armed forces, although many details remain unknown. Intelligence reports have suggested that Poseidon has undergone many trials, evidenced by the fact that some submarines have been modified and some are being specially built to accommodate for the larger and heavier Poseidon.
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The above information comes from the Bulletin. Here is their mission statement:
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I very rarely use Wikipedia for any citations as I doubt their level of credibility. Based on other articles that I have read, the Poseidon torpedo can be deployed on the ocean floor and activated at any point in the future as a drone. Tsunami or not, imagine the capability of a nuclear warhead off the coast of a city on our either of our East or West seaboards.
Concerning this topic, I want to point out that the Belgorod submarine was redesigned in 2017 specifically to carry and deploy Poseidon torpedoes. Does anyone think that Russia would build or redesign/retrofit a submarine for a fictional weapon? For those who disregard this information as propaganda, misinformation or carrying Putin’s dirty water, I refer you to this post.
Concerning people who use threats as to whether or not their comments get posted, I usually delete them. Any comment that can stand on its own merits will be posted. I really do not care whether Aesop reposts his comment on his site but I did approve his comment in this case.
David DeGerolamo
The Belgorod can carry 6 Poseidon UUV’s. Even if they only carry 2 megaton nukes apiece, that’s still enough to give us a Very Bad Day.
Every article I’ve read today about them and their capabilities suggest we still can’t intercept or destroy them. Even if we could, they are nuclear powered, so fissionable and irradiated debris would be scattered all over the place. The nukes themselves would not detonate, unless they’re on a Deadmans switch.
Another use besides contaminating coastal areas would be gliding them under carrier battle groups. Detonate at a thousand meters deep, create a giant flash steam bubble, and the whole battle group drowns.
More ominously, it is now being reported that China has the Poseidon schematics, and is working on their own version.
In an age where we need a Teddy Roosevelt type leader, we have a sellout degenerate scumbag. This does not bode well.
This vessels which did not sink or be destroyed in the initial detonation--surrounding vessels would heavily contaminated and there would be no measures that would be successful in decontamination. The radioactive fog contains highly radioactive minerals and metals in solution--which would adhere to the hull of the vessel/s. Ships involved in the Bikini tests were rendered massively radioactive and were not capable of being decontaminated enough for prolonged habitation. The German Battle Cruiser Prince Eugen is a perfect example--having survived two atomic blast and was too radioactive for further use, abandoned and then sunk due to hull leaks. Imagine one of our billion dollar carriers engulfed in radioactive fog--or worse, imagine a whole naval base (east coast or west) engulfed in a radioactive cloud. All would have to be abandoned.
This reminds me of the Hunt for Red October, and even back then why the purpose and idea of developing such a weapon.
Its funny watching people let nurse rachet get under their skin. You might not be old enough to internet without supervision just yet….
Its funnier still watching armchair quarterbacks with zero actual intelligence information debate the veraicity of the crumbs left online by the MIC.
Then the same people too stupid to realize they’re so far outside their lane as to be on a different highway, talk about how their candidate will fix everything once they get voted in!
You can’t fix stupid, R. White, c 2001
There’s a lower limit to the size of a functioning nuclear reactor. You can’t build one that would fit in the trunk of a typical car. I don’t think you could stuff one into a torpedo.
The Poseidon torpedo is 65m long and 1.5 to 2m in diameter. The opening to deploy the torpedo in the Belgorod submarine is the length of a football field.
The Poseidon is not a torpedo, it’s basically a WW2 sub sized drone, with a nuclear warhead, it can rest on the bottom of the ocean undetected, waiting to be activated to destroy its target. Imagine one up the Potomac or in the East River next to Manhattan.
Up the Potomac next to Washington DC?! This would be a bad thing?
In the 60’s the US Army developed a reactor plant designed to fit in a railcar.
SL-1 of course they understand up breaking it killing some people and thet abandoned the project but the concept was sound
I for once agree with Alsop. The torpedo won’t be able to cause a tsunami however it could completely destroy the Navy Stations in Norfolk, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Jacksonville. Groton, Kings Bay, Treasure Island, Bremerton and also major US Ports.
And while “technically ” Not a Tsunami the effect on the target area will be nearly the same.
I think that was brought up several times in the thread.
I wonder how tall the shock wave water wall is from a nuke of say 2 megatons. Given that a tsunami can be any height. Even here in Hawaii we have seen 6-inch tsunamis. Think if that wave is fifteen feet high at Pearl Harbor, the harbor is gone along with Hickam, its elevation is 13 feet.