Russia tests nuclear-capable underwater drone – Putin
Russia has successfully tested a state-of-the-art nuclear-capable underwater drone, Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced.
Trials of the Poseidon system took place on Tuesday, the president said as he visited a military hospital in Moscow on Wednesday.
”When it comes to speed and depth, there is nothing comparable to this unmanned vehicle anywhere the world, and it is unlikely to appear anytime soon,” he stated.
At the moment, “there are no methods of intercepting” the Poseidon, Putin stressed.
“For the first time, we succeeded not only in launching it from a submarine using its booster engine, but also in starting its nuclear power unit, which provided energy to the vehicle for a certain period of time. This is a tremendous success,” he said.
According to the Russian president, the capabilities of the Poseidon “significantly exceed the power of even our most promising Sarmat intercontinental range missile.”
Media reports previously described the Poseidon, which was first announced in 2018, as a deep-sea unmanned system with a nuclear power unit that boasts a virtually unlimited range. The 20-meter-long, 100-ton drone is said to be capable of reaching speeds of 200kph and descending below 1,000 meters. It can also reportedly travel at extremely low speed, becoming undetectable for modern radars. In addition to directly attacking coastal cities, the Poseidon can reportedly be used to cause devastating tsunamis.
