The Poseidon (, "

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of ...

index 2M39,

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

Kanyon), previously known by Russian codename Status-6 (), is an autonomous, nuclear-powered

unmanned underwater vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), also known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROUVs) an ...

reportedly in production by

Rubin Design Bureau Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering (), abbreviated as TsKB "Rubin" (), located in Saint-Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, is the largest of Russia's three main centers of submarine design, the other two being Malakhit Marine Engineerin ...

, capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

s. The Poseidon is one of the six new Russian nuclear weapons announced by Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

on 1 March 2018.

History

On 10 November 2015, a page of a document that contained information about a secret "oceanic multi-purpose system" called "Status-6" was "accidentally" revealed by Russian NTV television channel. The leak happened during Russian President

's speech denouncing American plans concerning "defensive" missile technology. The

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

has claimed the leak was intentional. According to the Pentagon,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

conducted the first test-launch of Poseidon on 27 November 2016, using the B-90 ''Sarov'' special purpose submarine. The test was reportedly carried out in the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

. In early 2018, the Pentagon's Nuclear Posture Review publicly acknowledged development of Russia's "new intercontinental, nuclear armed, nuclear-powered, undersea autonomous torpedo". The system was officially named "Poseidon", following a public vote in March of the same year. By January 2019, the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

announced plans to procure at least 30 Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicles, deployed on four submarines, two of which would serve in the Russian

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

and two in the Pacific Fleet. The following month, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that the key stage of trials of the system had been completed. This was followed by a video from the Russian Defence Ministry on 20 February, showing a Poseidon being test-launched by a B-90 ''Sarov'' special purpose submarine. In early 2023 the first batch of the weapons had reportedly been manufactured, although some sources criticized the lack of an official confirmation or announcement from the Russian government.

Design speculation

Overview

The Poseidon is intended to serve as response to

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

withdrawal from the

ABM treaty The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, also known as the ABM Treaty or ABMT, was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against bal ...

and to increase the Russian capability to overcome the U.S. missile defense systems, such as

anti-ballistic missile An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to Missile defense, destroy in-flight ballistic missiles. They achieve this explosively (chemical or nuclear), or via hit-to-kill Kinetic projectile, kinetic vehicles, which ma ...

s, etc. The Poseidon warhead can contaminate a large area with radiation. For this purpose, the Poseidon is speculated to be equipped with a cobalt bomb. The Poseidon could be a

radiological In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

second strike In nuclear strategy, a retaliatory strike or second-strike capability is a country's assured ability to respond to a nuclear attack with powerful nuclear retaliation against the attacker. To have such an ability (and to convince an opponent of its ...

weapon.Steven Pifer S.
Russia's perhaps-not-real super torpedo
'. Brookings Institution. November 18, 2015. Normal (not salted) thermonuclear weapons cause radioactive fallout primarily through

neutron activation Neutron activation is the process in which neutron radiation induces radioactivity in materials, and occurs when atomic nuclei capture free neutrons, becoming heavier and entering excited states. The excited nucleus decays immediately by emi ...

of material at the detonation site. Unless the detonation happens at low depths in shallow waters, an underwater detonation will have its fallout greatly reduced, except for at the surface immediately above, near the base surge. Much of the radioactivity will be deposited in the sea, and be carried by ocean currents. Water (and air) will not form radioisotopes suitable for radiological warfare when neutron activated, however the seawater-salt will, and the seabed may. If used against an aircraft carrier battle group, the battle group would have reduced chances of defending itself against it. The drone could detonate its very large warhead at standoff range, and

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

units would have very little time to react because of the speed at which it travels.Pentagon Confirms Russia Has a Submarine Nuke Delivery Drone
''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

''. Kyle Mizokami, Dec 8, 2016.

Specifications

The Poseidon appears to be a torpedo-shaped robotic mini-submarine which can travel at speeds of . More recent information suggests a top speed of , with a range of and a depth maximum of . Typical depth of the drone may be about for increased stealth features in low-speed stealth mode. Low depth in stealth mode is preferred because sound waves move to ocean floor and reduce radius of detection. Submarines use the same strategy in

silent running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American ecological-themed science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all forests on Earth have b ...

mode. It is in diameter and long. The warhead shown in the leaked figure is a cylinder in diameter by in length, giving a volume of . Comparing this to the volumes of other large thermonuclear bombs, the 1961 Soviet-era

Tsar Bomba The Tsar Bomba (code name: ''Ivan'' or ''Vanya''), also known by the alphanumerical designation "AN602", was a Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear aerial bomb, and by far the most powerful nuclear weapon ever created and tested. The Soviet phy ...

itself measured long by in diameter, indicating that the yield is at least several tens of megatons, generally consistent with early reports of 100 megatons.

Body

Most likely, the high-strength body of the device is made of

titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

alloys.

Powerplant

The National Interest ''The National Interest'' (''TNI'') is an American bimonthly international relations magazine edited by American journalist Jacob Heilbrunn and published by the Center for the National Interest, a public policy think tank based in Washington, ...

'' compiled several unclassified defense sources from

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

experts about the similar 601B project and they predicted low weight and compact gas-cooled nuclear reactor in the drone. Russian submarine designers say that a low-power reactor is preferred for Poseidon because a smaller reactor is less noisy.

Stealth technology

The development includes also use of

stealth technology Stealth technology, also termed low observable technology (LO technology), is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive and active electronic countermeasures. The term covers a range of military technology, methods used to make personnel ...

, to elude acoustic tracking devices. Poseidon uses a

strategy like other submarines. Its main stealth feature is its very low speed before it reaches the target area. Its high-speed mode activates upon reaching a short finish range (2–3 kilometers), when the probability of detection of the drone is considerably higher. It could travel for weeks toward enemy port cities, reaching high-speed only in the final stage. Russian designers estimated the radius of detection of the drone will be about for . A second important stealth feature of the drone is the special design of the

pump-jet A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet is a marine system that produces a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller (axial-flow pump), a centrifugal pump, or a mixed flow pump which is a combination of bot ...

for clearance of the drone's

acoustic signature The term acoustic signature is used to describe a combination of acoustic emissions of sound emitters, such as those of ships and submarines. In addition, aircraft, machinery, and living animals can be described as having their own characteristic ...

to imitate the noise of civil ships. A U.S. intelligence officer told

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

that the Poseidon is difficult to detect and difficult to target in stealth mode.

Supercavitation

Poseidon is a family of drones, some of which are designed only for destroying coastal cities and thus rely on "stealth" capabilities rather than on high speed, others of which are primarily designed to attack carrier battle groups and were claimed to possibly harness

supercavitation Supercavitation is the phenomenon of a cavitation bubble reducing skin friction drag on a submerged object and enabling high speeds. Applications include torpedoes and propellers, but in theory, the technique could be extended to an entire un ...

, like the

VA-111 Shkval The VA-111 ''Shkval'' (from , ''squall'') torpedo and its descendants are supercavitating torpedoes originally developed by the Soviet Union. They are capable of speeds in excess of 200 knots (370 km/h or 230 miles/h). Design and capabili ...

torpedo, to attain extremely high speeds (higher than ) in attack mode. However, supercavitation devices have not been observed on the available footage of Poseidon. The Pentagon estimates maximum speed of the Poseidon to be about without the supercavitation option.

Launch platforms

The two ships speculated to carry the Poseidon are the Project 09852 modified Oscar-class submarine ''Belgorod'' and the Project 09851 ''

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

'' submarines.Oliphant R. Secret Russian radioactive doomsday torpedo leaked on television. Telegraph. 13 November 201

/ref>Russian Mystery Submarine Likely Deployment Vehicle for New Nuclear Torpedo. USNI News

/ref>

Oscar-class submarine The Oscar class, Soviet designations Project 949 ''Granit'' and Project 949A ''Antey'' (List of NATO reporting names for submarines, NATO reporting names Oscar I and Oscar II respectively), are a series of Nuclear submarine, nuclear-powered cruis ...

s could carry six Poseidon torpedoes at the same time for a total yield of up to 12-600 megatons. According to some reports, Poseidon may have a seabed or mobile site launch option. In this configuration, known as ''Skif'' (Скиф) and patented by designer Alexander Shalnev, Poseidon can be staged on the sea floor in a special container as long as necessary. Russian auxiliary vessels ''Zvezdochka'' (Project 20180) and ''Akademik Aleksandrov'' (Project 20183), both of which feature ice-breaking capabilities, are involved in testing of Poseidon drones, indicating that these ships may be used as platforms for deploying and retrieving such a seabed version.

Facts

In 2022, Russian domestic TV said Poseidon will be able to "plunge Britain into the depths of the sea". According to Russian claims, the Poseidon Torpedo may initiate a 500 m high shockwave. Various sources disregard these claims by pointing out the difference between a potential wave generated by the weapon and a naturally occurring tsunami. Large tsunamis are usually directed along one path, whereas an undersea explosion causes a wave to spread in 360°, which attenuates more rapidly with distance than a unidirectional wave does. As a comparison, the energy release that caused the 2011 Japan Tsunami was 163,000 times larger than

, the upper estimate of Poseidon's possible power.

Reactions

Following the Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements during his presentation of several new Russian super-weapons in March 2018, in which he specifically referenced the Poseidon as a weapon which could also target American port cities, U.S. Defense Secretary

James Mattis James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is an American military officer who served as the 26th United States secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. A retired Marine Corps four-star general, he commanded forces in the Persian Gulf War, th ...

stated Russia already had the potential capability of targeting certain port cities on the American coastline with missiles, and said thus Poseidon "does not change at all the strategic balance".

Future users

; *

– more than 30 planned

References

External links

* {{Russian and Soviet missiles Post–Cold War weapons of Russia Nuclear weapons of Russia Naval weapons of Russia Submarines of Russia Unmanned underwater vehicles