Putin has revealed a nuclear submarine with missiles more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, with advanced stealth technology and an ‘unlimited firing range’
Vladimir Putin has revealed a new nuclear submarine tipped with missiles said to be 100 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Named after Russian explorer Yerofey Khabarov, it was seen by the world for the first time last Saturday, after the Kremlin announced its missiles had been successfully tested. Images from November 2, taken by satellite, show the submarine is located at a shipyard in Severodvinsk, a port on the shores of the White Sea in Russia’s far north.
The Russian president said: “There is nothing like this in the world in terms of the speed and the depth of the movement of this vehicle – and it is unlikely there ever will be.”
He added that there were “no ways to intercept” the nuclear submarine, and that not only did each missile have “unrivalled advantages” but the sub’s nuclear reactor would take just “minutes or seconds” to start, according to the Daily Mail.
Originally called Project 09851, the contract to build the Khabarovsk was signed in 2012, and construction began two years later. However, the world only came to know about it in 2018 when Putin announced six new nuclear weapons programmes, in his yearly address to the nation.
The Khabarovsk was due to be launched in June 2020, and while there is no official reason for the delay, reports suggested work was on hold due to Covid, Ukraine and technical difficulties.
We don’t know much about this nuclear sub, but it measures 370 ft long and has an operational depth of up to 3,300 ft. It is estimated to have cost well in excess of £1 billion.
According to experts, it is likely the sub will be manned by a crew of 100, have a technically unlimited firing range and will have the ability to stay underwater without surfacing for months, using stealth technology.
Andrey Kartapolov, chair of Russia’s Duma defence committee, said the weapon is “capable of wiping out whole coastal nations.”
One scientist said: “The technology involved here is extremely sophisticated, but the aim is very basic indeed.
“The function of Poseidon is to cause massive explosions under the surface of the water that will result in cities and other key targets being drenched with radioactive seawater and, as a result, being largely uninhabitable.”
Admiral Lord West, who once served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff told the Daily Mail : “It’s extraordinary that Putin is developing a weapon like this – it’s extremely concerning and shows what a maverick he is.
“It’s a Doomsday weapon and is primarily aimed at travelling across the Pacific to hit the American West Coast.”
And while he wasn’t over-fussed by the threat to Britain by Putin’s recent acts, he added: “I’m fussed that he’s actually developing it. I’m fussed that he thinks it’s clever.
“Hopefully he won’t use it because he knows the deterrent works. What should happen if he fires this thing is that both he and Moscow will disappear in a puff of smoke [as the West retaliates]. That’s why we have a deterrent force.
‘But, of course, one never wants that to happen. Hopefully Putin is not so maverick and so stupid that he thinks he can use a weapon like this and that no one will react to him.”
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