President Vladimir Putin announced last week that Russia had successfully tested the Poseidon nuclear torpedo, which military analysts say is capable of destroying coastal regions with huge radioactive ocean waves, Reuters reported, BTA writes.
Amidst increasing criticism from US President Donald Trump against Putin, as well as his increasingly tough stance towards Russia, the Russian president publicly demonstrated his country's nuclear power with this test, as well as with tests of the new Burevestnik cruise missile on October 21 and nuclear exercises on October 22, the agency said.
“Poseidon“ is one of six Russian The project to develop nuclear weapons, dubbed by experts as "superweapons," was presented before the invasion of Ukraine as an apparent tool for pressure in disarmament talks with the United States, the New York Times reported.
Some experts have doubted the existence of the weapon for years after it was first shown on Russian state television in 2015 during a broadcast of a meeting between Putin and senior Russian generals, the publication noted.
There is little confirmed information about the "Poseidon" project, named after the ancient Greek god of the sea, but it is essentially a nuclear weapon that is a cross between a torpedo and a drone, Reuters reported. "Poseidon" is a new development that has emerged in the context of what Putin has described as a global race in arms race - mainly between the US, Russia and China - to modernise and develop their nuclear arsenals. According to Russian media reports, the weapon is 20 metres long, 1.8 metres in diameter and weighs 100 tonnes.
Arms control experts say the weapon violates most traditional rules of nuclear deterrence and classification. They estimate it can carry a two-megaton nuclear warhead and is likely powered by a liquid metal-cooled nuclear reactor.
Russian Senator Konstantin Kosachev said these new "superweapons" are Russia's response to Western efforts to dominate the world through military force, after Western countries abandoned various Cold War-era arms control agreements, the Washington Post reported. Post”.
“In recent years, they have acted arrogantly and confidently with the illusion that they will not meet any resistance. And now here is Russia's convincing response, called “Oreshnik“, “Burevestnik“ and “Poseidon“, Kosachev said.
Russia wants to present “Poseidon“ as a game-changing weapon that will devastate the coasts of Russia's opponents, the American capital's publication commented. It is designed to approach the target hidden underwater and destroy critical coastal infrastructure, such as naval bases and ports. It is too large in size to be carried even by the largest Russian submarines, and must be launched from a specially designed submarine.
“Poseidon“ is designed to carry a nuclear warhead and is powered by a nuclear reactor, allowing it to cross the world's oceans and have a virtually unlimited range, said Michael Peterson, chief research scientist in the Russia Studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses, a nonprofit research and analysis organization.
This is considered to provide a "second strike capability," meaning it is a weapon designed to pose a threat after a nuclear war has already begun, Peterson said. However, nuclear submarines are also such weapons, which can be armed with 16 ballistic missiles, each with 6 to 10 warheads. This means that each submarine has much greater destructive power than a single Poseidon torpedo, the expert said.
“Instead of being used to wage war, this weapon is designed to force "to make the enemy retreat under the threat of being used," Peterson said. "Of course, Russia could decide to use it, but in that case, global strategic war would have already begun or would be the only remaining option," he added.
"These are essentially Armageddon weapons - too powerful to use unless you're prepared to destroy the world," said Mark Galeotti, a Russia researcher and long-time observer of Russian politics, quoted by the BBC.
Both Poseidon and Burevestnik are weapons for retaliatory strikes, and even the Kremlin's most ardent propagandists do not claim that anyone is preparing to strike Russia, Galeotti pointed out.
So it is the timing of the announcement of the Poseidon test, rather than its content, that is noteworthy, the British public media commented. After several turbulent months of cautious diplomacy by US President Donald Trump, through which he tried to bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table, Trump has recently appeared to tire of his efforts to end the war.
At the end of last month, the White House canceled the summit between Trump and Putin, apparently after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio realized that the differences between the positions of Moscow and Washington were too great for a high-level meeting to achieve significant results, the BBC pointed out. Not only is there no sign of further talks, but soon after the meeting was canceled, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia’s largest oil producers as punishment for Moscow’s failure to reach a peace deal in Ukraine.
“Given Trump’s wavering in his support for Ukraine or his sympathy for Russia, there is an element of Moscow wanting to demonstrate that it has stronger cards than Kiev,“ says Galeotti. “So in that context, they [Russia’s successful weapons tests] are more likely to keep him thinking that Russia is a really powerful country,“ he believes.