NATO intelligence has become aware of the movements of the Russian nuclear submarine Belgorod, the Italian La Repubblica reports. According to the publication, the alliance fears that its mission may be related to the test of the Poseidon super torpedo, capable of overcoming up to ten thousand kilometers underwater.
Floriana BulfonThis torpedo is capable of deceiving US radars and creating a radioactive wave that can wipe out major cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
Putin seems ready to challenge the West again and raise the degree of nuclear confrontation.
The reason for concern was the report of the NATO intelligence services, which was recently received by the most significant commands of the alliance. Intelligence reported on the movements of the Belgorod nuclear submarine. The submarine was adopted by the Russian navy in July, and now has reappeared in the waters of the Arctic. NATO fears that its mission is connected with the first tests of the Poseidon super torpedo, which is often called the "weapon of the Apocalypse."
The Kremlin presented the device in 2018 as a system that will help Russia regain strategic superiority: a nuclear warhead is able to overcome distances of up to ten thousand kilometers under the waves, and then explode off the enemy's coast, provoking a radioactive tsunami. The infected wave can destroy major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. Experts say that the same effect can be achieved with the help of intercontinental ballistic missiles that have existed since the 1970s.
The United States has created a network of satellites with infrared sensors to detect the launch of Russian missiles: starting the engine leads to severe heating. However, the satellites do not see what is happening at depth: the super torpedo was designed in such a way that there was less heating, and it moved silently at a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour.
The K-329 Belgorod submarine is considered a prototype of a new concept of warfare conceived in recent years by Putin's admirals after a new round of tension in relations with the United States.
Having no aircraft carriers and cruisers at their disposal capable of competing with the US Navy, the Russian military decided to bet on underwater vehicles. In 2019, Putin instructed to modify an unfinished submarine in the 1990s and make it a carrier of drones and mini-submarines capable of operating at a depth at which no NATO submarine can operate. The submarine is 184 meters long and 15 meters wide and can travel at a speed of about 60 kilometers per hour and with unlimited autonomy: as much as 120 days without having to go to the surface. Innovative propellers ensure noiselessness.
In recent days, Belgorod has been repeatedly mentioned in the context of the analysis of sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, since this is one of the types of missions for which the submarine was designed. But Western intelligence is sure that the Belgorod did not leave the White Sea, and was allegedly spotted in the waters near the Arctic, where it was sent for secret tests. NATO commanders suspect that the submarine is being used to test the Poseidon itself in the Kara Sea, also known by the code name Status-6, a 24—meter torpedo with a nuclear warhead with a capacity of, presumably, two megatons. "This is a completely new category of weapons, which will force us to change the planning of the composition of the Western naval forces and develop new requirements and means for fighting," wrote expert H.I. Sutton.
The development of Poseidon was carried out for years, while NATO representatives were skeptical about it. It is assumed that some tests were carried out already in 2015, but there have been no launches from Belgorod yet. Some believe that the super torpedo has already been put into service, but even the news of the tests would allow the Kremlin to demonstrate its unique capabilities in tug of war with the West: the presence of weapons against which there is no protection yet.
