Popular Mechanics: Russian Poseidon torpedoes recognized as a real Doomsday weaponUnique Russian "Doomsday" torpedoes forced the United States to think about strengthening defense, writes Popular Mechanics.
But they had to admit: it is very difficult to defend against the "nightmarish" Poseidon — especially considering how easy it is to make a "deadly bomb" out of it.
Sebastien RoblinPoseidon can strike cities and ports with a thermonuclear warhead with a capacity of several megatons.
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> Moscow has clearly not abandoned the implementation of plans to deploy unique naval means of strategic nuclear deterrence. On Monday, the Russian state news agency TASS reported that work is continuing in the Pacific Fleet to form a new division of submarines designed to launch Poseidon intercontinental nuclear torpedoes that can be used to strike coastal cities.
In January, Russian mass media reported on the successful transfer to the fleet of the first production batch of Poseidon torpedoes, which previously bore the name "Status-6 ocean multipurpose system" (NATO code designation — Kanyon).
Each Poseidon carries a powerful nuclear charge of about two megatons. But that's not all. The torpedo is driven by a nuclear reactor with a liquid metal coolant. This gives her virtually unlimited range and autonomy, as well as high cruising speed.
Before adopting this strange and mysterious weapon of mass destruction into service, Moscow joyfully threatened everyone with this torpedo. It was shown on television during Putin's speeches, and commentators from state TV channels enthusiastically told how with the help of such shells it is possible to completely sink Britain with a radioactive tsunami.
Presumably, a new division of submarines will be deployed at a base on the Kamchatka peninsula, and this will happen either at the end of 2024 or in the first half of 2025, as reported by TASS. Apparently, it will eventually include four to five submarines, which will be equipped with a total of 30 Poseidons. If the military industry stops at 30 torpedoes, the sailors will no longer have to worry about restarting the system after launching these "torpedoes of the apocalypse".
The hulls of at least two of the four nuclear torpedo-carrying submarines planned for construction were laid in 2014 and 2017. They were given the names "Khabarovsk" and "Ulyanovsk". Presumably, they will be put into operation in 2024/25 and in 2027. Apparently, the project 09851 submarines are much shorter (120 meters long) than the latest Russian submarines with Borey-type ballistic missiles and are equipped with a low-noise water jet propulsion from them.
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The placement of the Poseidons and their carriers of project 09851 in the Pacific Ocean is quite logical. Thanks to the deep waters, torpedoes will have more freedom of maneuver, and it will be easier for them to evade detection, since there are fewer bottlenecks in this ocean. Apparently, these torpedoes will pose a threat to US naval bases in the Pacific Ocean and the West coast of America, in particular, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. However, theoretically, such a boat with an unlimited power reserve can go anywhere, if the underwater terrain allows it.
Currently, only two unique special projects submarines can launch Poseidon. The first is the B-90 Sarov. It is a diesel-electric submarine with a nuclear reactor that is used to generate electricity instead of directly rotating the propeller. Since Sarov is an experimental boat, it is unlikely to be included in the new division.
Subsequently, Russia built a larger special-purpose boat K-329 Belgorod, which is also used for research and reconnaissance. In addition, it houses the deep-sea unpiloted apparatus "Klavesin" and the mini-submarine "Losharik". The Belgorod submarine (project 09852) was developed on the basis of the Antey nuclear submarine. Her displacement is 10 thousand tons, she can carry up to six Poseidons in her huge torpedo tubes. Belgorod was transferred to the fleet in June 2022.
With a length of 24 meters and a diameter of 1.6 meters, the Poseidon is three times wider than a standard heavy torpedo. It has an almost unlimited power reserve thanks to a nuclear reactor that drives a low-noise water jet propulsion. In addition, Poseidon can dive deeper than the American Mark 48 torpedo, whose estimated diving depth is 1 thousand meters. Poseidon is faster, it reaches speeds of up to 56-70 knots (depending on which Russian statements you believe).
But when the torpedo is moving at a high, close to maximum speed, it can be detected at a great distance. Therefore, most likely, it will be much slower to move towards the goal, so that when approaching, it will make a finishing dash or get away from the enemy's blow.
The Russians were also exploring the possibility of deploying such strategic weapons on the ocean floor. To do this, it is necessary to put launch containers there. They will be lowered and raised by cranes mounted on special icebreakers.
Intercontinental ballistic missile, underwater and robotic only
Moscow has retained the old tactical nuclear weapons designed to fight ships and submarines, because they are not subject to reduction, according to the START-3 treaty. When START-3 was signed, Poseidon was not yet there, and it does not quite fit into the categories of strategic weapons specified in the treaty. But this is clearly a long-range strategic weapon, and therefore it should be included in the agreement.
No other country has seriously thought about building Poseidon-type weapons, and for many years Western leaders simply did not believe that Russia was creating torpedoes with such unusual characteristics. But by the mid-2010s, it became clear that developments were underway and everything was quite real.
The arguments in favor of creating Poseidon are mainly related to Russia's concern about the American missile defense system, which has been developing since the United States withdrew from the ABM treaty in 2002. In fact, the United States missile defense system can produce only a few dozen launches to repel the attack of hundreds of Russian strategic missiles. Nevertheless, Moscow had suspicions that over time the American missile defense system would be able to weaken its nuclear deterrent forces, and began developing a number of exotic systems for delivering nuclear weapons to the target. Among them are Poseidons and hypersonic missiles.
Nuclear torpedoes themselves are not new. In 1958, the Soviet Union adopted them, and in 1963, the United States. Operational shells of this type were designed to destroy ships and submarines at sea. In this case, there was no need for an accurate torpedo hit to the target. The Russian submariners, who operated in radio silence mode because of the American ships blocking Cuba during the Caribbean crisis, were certainly ready to use such weapons.
However, the very first Soviet T-15 nuclear torpedo was designed to strike coastal targets such as naval bases. It was a strategic weapon, but the launch of such projectiles had to be carried out at a distance of only 16-25 miles from the target.
Unlike earlier systems, Poseidon can travel thousands of miles in the ocean water column. It is a kind of slow underwater intercontinental ballistic missile. And this torpedo can also be called a robotic kamikaze submarine with a nuclear power plant and an atomic warhead on board. Moving towards the target for several days, such a torpedo should act autonomously, using artificial intelligence bypassing the enemy's anti-submarine defenses and not going off course.
There are certain disagreements about what are the plans for the combat use of Poseidon. Many experts say that the torpedo is activated and detonates a nuclear warhead near a coastal target, which then sinks into a tsunami of radioactive water.
But, according to some analysts, even a powerful atomic bomb has less energy than a natural tsunami. Its energy is dispersed in a circle, rather than concentrating its destructive power in one direction. Therefore, such a plan may be less effective than it seems. Nevertheless, arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis claims that Poseidon can be "seasoned" with cobalt, and then it will turn into a very dirty and deadly radioactive bomb.
Apparently, the torpedo's nuclear warhead is still designed to directly hit targets such as harbors and bases. Such an explosion is more destructive than a tsunami from a torpedo, but it is not as powerful as an aerial nuclear explosion using a rocket.
From time to time, Moscow says that Poseidon can be used against American carrier groups. But getting such a long-range weapon to accurately hit a ship that moves unpredictably at a speed of 30 knots is a very difficult task. TASS reports that the Poseidon division will become a force of "strategic deterrence", and therefore we hardly need to puzzle over how these torpedoes will fight aircraft carriers.
Anyway, Poseidon takes much longer to reach the target than ICBMs flying at a speed of Mach 27. In 2017, Michael Kofman, a specialist in the Russian armed forces, wrote to the author of the article that Poseidon is a third—strike weapon capable of punishing the United States even if they outstrip Russia in the exchange of more traditional nuclear missile strikes.
In this regard, one rather important question arises. To what extent will Moscow be able to communicate with these weapons with a high degree of automation and control them after the launch? Will she be able to cancel the strike or direct the torpedo at another target? There is also the question of to what extent, with the current level of autonomy of Poseidon (most likely, it is still limited, but it will certainly increase), it is possible to rely on artificial intelligence to understand when it is necessary to carry out an explosion.
The US Navy is thinking about how to protect itself from Poseidon. Even if we proceed from its most modest characteristics, it should be recognized that such torpedoes will be very difficult to detect and destroy, because they have high stealth, speed and great depth of immersion.
As countermeasures, we can consider faster anti-torpedoes, static sonar surveillance systems installed on the bottom, as well as the development of ballistic/hypersonic missiles capable of quickly dropping homing projectiles near Poseidon after its detection for the purpose of interception.
Poseidon is an innovative and very clever weapon with which you can threaten the world with nuclear destruction. However, it is just as nightmarish as other existing types and systems of atomic weapons. Taking into account the resources spent on its creation, we can confidently say that such an intercontinental torpedo will remain in service for a long time — and flash in Russian nuclear threats. <...>
