Russia set to deploy nuclear-armed drone torpedo

FPI / May 26, 2022

Geostrategy-Direct.com

A new drone torpedo capable of destroying entire cities or ports will be deployed by Russia this year, according to the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The drone torpedo, dubbed the Poseidon by Russia, is armed with a megaton-class nuclear warhead and will be carried on a massive new special-purpose submarine called the Belgorod, Adm. John Aquilino, disclosed in congressional testimony on May 17.

In addition to the Belgorod, the Russian military is adding at least one Dolgorukiy II-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine to the two Dolgorukiy I missile submarines already in the Pacific Fleet, Aquilino said.

The four-star admiral did not say whether the Belgorod would be deployed with Russian forces in the Atlantic or the Pacific, but the Belgorod is said to be one of the most worrying new strategic systems because of the introduction of the Poseidon.

The Poseidon will be equipped with a nuclear warhead measured in the tens of megatons of explosive power.

A megaton is the equivalent of 1 million tons of TNT. Additionally, the drone torpedo will be capable of traveling at speeds as high as 100 knots, considered extremely fast for an underwater robot vehicle.

The Belgorod is believed to be capable of carrying six Poseidons. Each torpedo would be capable of destroying a port or city by detonating near the coast.

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