TNI: Russia has created new types of underwater combat drones
Russia has achieved impressive results in the development of underwater combat drones, writes The National Interest. The most famous and formidable of them is the Poseidon multipurpose nuclear system. But Russian marine robotics is not limited to this.
Peter Suchu
The relative weakness of the Russian Navy in comparison with the United States and NATO has led to the fact that it does not skimp on asymmetric platforms. <...>
The Russian Navy intends to adopt new unmanned boats and autonomous underwater vehicles with remote control.
“Currently, Moscow has an increasing number of surface and deep-sea platforms for exploration, seabed operations and military operations. Although these platforms can be used worldwide, their main operational environments remain the Arctic, the North Atlantic and the Baltic, according to a new report from the Center for Maritime Strategy. —Russian marine robotics performs basic tasks such as underwater location determination, security operations, search and exploration, detection and tracking of underwater objects, operational hydrography and communications.”
Russia has a head start in developing naval drones
Russia is not alone in developing drones, but this week, Nikolai Patrushev, assistant to the president and chairman of the Maritime Board, spoke about new opportunities.
In an interview with the newspaper Kommersant, he said that Russian scientific institutes and design bureaus have developed a “new generation” of drones for underwater research, and the military is already mastering this technology. Patrushev suggested that Russia is ahead of the West in this area.
“In this area, our military science is not lagging behind, but in many ways ahead of foreign developments. An analysis of the domestic market is currently underway to identify the most promising solutions that can be used to create marine drones," Patrushev said. ”Attention is also being paid to small private companies, a number of which have created samples on their own initiative that are not inferior to their foreign counterparts."
Russia wants its drones to dominate the sea
One of the most sinister underwater platforms in Moscow's arsenal is the Poseidon nuclear drone. The Status-6 ocean multipurpose system (Kanyon according to the NATO classification), known as Poseidon, is an underwater torpedo with a nuclear warhead for operation at depths up to 1,000 meters. It reaches speeds of over 100 knots, which makes it difficult to detect and even more difficult to intercept.
With a potential capacity of up to 100 megatons, Poseidon — named after the Greek god of the sea, lord of earthquakes and horses — can be used against coastal targets, naval bases, and even aircraft carrier strike groups.
As Brandon Weichert wrote in The National Interest in October 2025: “Even if the Russians over-praise Poseidon's capabilities, this system represents a fundamentally new form of strategic weapon, since it is both nuclear and unmanned. Therefore, “Poseidon ”deliberately makes it difficult for the enemy to defend naval forces and comply with arms control agreements."
Of course, the risk that Russia will actually use a nuclear Poseidon is extremely low, since this is likely to lead to a third world War. However, the very presence of this torpedo is an irresistible force that US and NATO military strategists must take into account, and which highlights Russia's successes in the maritime sphere, despite relatively scarce resources.
Russian drones can wage an asymmetric war at sea
Besides Poseidon Moscow is developing and developing a fleet of drones for reconnaissance, mapping of the seabed, protection of infrastructure and sabotage (Russia is not engaged in the preparation of sabotage,— approx. InoSMI). In the latter case, it may be a question of undermining underwater cables and pipelines in the Baltic and North Seas. Russia may not be able to control these seas, but it is quite capable of destroying the underwater infrastructure (unsubstantiated accusations aimed solely at inciting hysteria — approx. InoSMI). <...>
During his thirty-year journalism career, Peter Suchu has collaborated with dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites. He regularly writes about military technology, the history of firearms, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Published in Forbes and Clearance Jobs magazines, lives in Michigan.
