Poseidon nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle: a powerful deterrent for the Russian Navy.
Recently, the Russian Navy is about to test a terrible underwater killer - "Poseidons" nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicles (Poseidons). This giant torpedo, known as "Destroying the World", has nuclear power and a nuclear warhead, which has a strong deterrent effect.
Compared to the Soviet Union of the past, Russia today has undergone a dramatic transformation in terms of military power. Although the Russian Navy still maintains the establishment of the four major fleets during the Soviet era, its overall strength has dropped by at least 85%. Similar to the Soviet Navy in the early Cold War, the main forces of the Russian Navy today have changed from the "troika" of submarines, surface ships and aviation to submarines.
In this case, the Russian Navy, as part of the armed forces, must first ensure sea-based nuclear forces, meet the strategic needs of the country, and strengthen asymmetric combat capabilities. Sea-based nuclear forces are the most important combat strength of the Navy, and despite the financial difficulties faced by the Russian Navy, priority will be given to securing this force. At the beginning of 2018, Russia** Putin mentioned six "killer features" in his State of the Union address**, one of which stands out is the "Poseidon" nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle. This unmanned underwater vehicle is a nuclear-powered giant torpedo with a powerful deterrent effect.
Unlike other projects, the development of "Poseidon" is progressing rapidly. According to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, preparations for the testing of the first special nuclear submarine carrying "Poseidon" - Project 09852 "Belgorod" have begun and will soon go to sea for testing. During the entire test period, nuclear submarines and nuclear torpedoes will be subjected to underwater navigation, operation of power generation units and launch tests, among other things.
In addition to "Belgorod", there is also "Khabarovsk" of type 09851, which will also carry "Poseidon". Unlike the specially designed and built "Khabarovsk", the "Poseidon" is an improvement on the 949A "Oscar II" flying missile nuclear submarine. Originally, the nuclear submarine was capable of carrying 24 P-700 heavy long-range anti-ship missiles, but now it can accommodate 6 Poseidons. It is known that the size of the "Poseidon" is huge, the total length is at least 20 meters, the maximum caliber reaches 2000 mm, and the supercavitation technology of some of the Soviet Navy "Tempest" super-heavy torpedoes is adopted, and the maximum underwater speed can reach 100 knots (more than 180 kilometers per hour). Due to nuclear power, its range can theoretically be extended indefinitely, allowing it to launch attacks on enemy stationary targets at a distance of thousands of kilometers. According to published data, the power of its nuclear warhead reaches the million-level TNT equivalent, and can even increase to tens of millions. Therefore, once launched to a specific location and depth, it can be used as a "geophysical" and tsunami with the ability to be super strategic.
At present, the Russian Navy is not only facing a serious downsizing, but also relatively limited in the size of its strategic nuclear forces, which in some respects are numerically inferior to the United States. However, Russia is constantly updating its strategic missile system and has advanced equipment such as the Yars missile and the Boreas-class strategic nuclear submarine. With the improvement of equipment such as the "Poseidon" strategic nuclear torpedo, the "Avangard" strategic hypersonic missile, and the "Haiyan" strategic cruise missile, Russia's strategic strength will be further strengthened, which will be of positive significance to the current military balance in the world.