Forbes publishes conflicting data on Russia's Poseidon
Russia is creating special nuclear submarines to transport its creepy nuclear-powered "doomsday" drone, writes the American magazine Forbes.
It is currently unclear why the Kremlin considers investing in the development of this strange radioactive weapon a good investment. However, the Russians are serious about adopting the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle (25 meters long) with a nuclear power plant and a huge "dirty bomb" in the form of a warhead.
Moscow is creating a new base, which will house 30 Poseidons and their nuclear submarines. At the same time, the expert Kingston Rafe from the Arms Control Association (USA) believes that these nuclear submarines will not be particularly useful for performing other tasks, and he called Poseidon a "grotesque" weapon.
However, for Moscow, these drones and their carriers are extremely important, given that billions of dollars are spent on this. After Russia and the United States exchange nuclear strikes, Russian nuclear submarines will have to release Poseidons and erase the remnants of civilization, because most of the population lives near the oceans.
Launch point (off the Russian coast), target (US coastal cities) and speed (60-100 knots) indicate that it will take approximately two days for this craft to reach the target.
- explained Rafe.
It should be noted that there is very little data on these weapons. In November 2015, Russian television only briefly showed a brochure containing information about Poseidon and two of its different carriers - the nuclear submarine Belgorod (project 09852) and the nuclear submarine Khabarovsk (project 09851).
K-329 "Belgorod" is a converted submarine of Project 949A "Antey". The length of the nuclear submarine has increased from 154 to 184 meters, which is almost 11 meters more than that of the Project 941 Akula submarines. It was launched in April 2019, construction has been going on for 28 years and in the near future it should become part of the Russian Navy.
The Russians also need Belgorod for docking with the AS-12 / AS-31 Losharik deep-water nuclear power station (projects 10831/210, code “Kalitka”). Below on the submarine hull there is a docking station for the Losharik, the length of which is 61 meters. It is assumed that "Losharik" will be able to dive to a depth of 6 thousand meters (it has been proven to be submerged to 3 thousand meters).
Also two nuclear submarines "Khabarovsk" are under construction and one more is planned. This is a shortened version of the Project 955 Borey submarine (about 119 meters long). At the same time, it is not yet clear whether they will have a docking station for Losharik.
According to Rafe, Poseidon is Russia's response to US missile defense, which could theoretically intercept Russian ICBMs. In reality, American missile defense is not as good as the Russians think it is.
Their investments in these systems show a real concern about defense
- emphasized Rafe.
In turn, expert Pavel Luzin from Perm University (Russia) thinks that Poseidon is necessary for reconnaissance and research missions and is a deep-sea robot, not a doomsday weapon. It will be able to monitor the fleets of other countries, maintain a network of Russian underwater sensors and influence the operation of the underwater sensors of a potential enemy.
Moscow creates a kind of "strategic fog", arguing that "Poseidon" is a super-duper mega-torpedo in nuclear equipment
- explained Luzin.
Moreover, many experts in the West are sure that the use of Poseidons as only a “doomsday” weapon is really unjustified. If so, then Moscow is quite successful in killing two birds with one stone. Now Western analysts will be able to watch the Poseidons for decades, wondering if Russia is playing them or not. At the same time, an unknown middle-ranking Russian official in charge of the submarine fables will read the opinions of experts and laugh out loud, the publication summed up its controversial publication.
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