Days after claiming a successful test of an "invincible" nuclear cruise missile, and following nuclear exercises conducted by his military, the Russian president also announced a successful test of the"Poseidon" torpedo, which is powered by a nuclear reactor and, according to commentators, has a range of 10,000 km:"It is uninterceptable, there is nothing like it." In the background: the escalation with Trump, who imposed heavy oil sanctions and, according to reports, lifted restrictions on Ukraine's ability to attack deep inside Russia.
Ynet and the agencies|
President of Russia
Vladimir Putin
announced today (Wednesday) that his country had successfully tested a new weapon, the"Poseidon" submarine system, which is powered by a nuclear reactor and carries a powerful nuclear warhead - and which, according to Putin, is"uninterceptable." Russian media claimed that this system, which is essentially a kind of nuclear torpedo, was developed with the aim of attacking coastal areas in a nuclear war scenario, and causing massive destruction with a"radioactive tsunami."
Putin's announcement comes three days after Russia claimed to have successfully tested another futuristic nuclear missile, the"Borvostynik," which the Russian president also describes as "invincible," and after nuclear exercises conducted by the Russian military last week. These steps are all seen as a threatening message to the United States and the West, especially after the American president
Donald Trump
Changed direction, and next to
Imposition of first heavy sanctions on Moscow
The pot according to
Reports of restrictions imposed on Ukraine's ability to attack targets deep inside Russia using advanced Western weapons
.
9 Viewing the gallery
Putin and the simulation that Russia previously released of "Poseidon." He claims that it is an uninterceptable weapon: "A huge success" (Photo: Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/ AP, Photo: Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
(Photo: Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
(Photo: Russian Defense Ministry/Handout via REUTERS)
Putin announced the Poseidon test at a meeting at a Moscow hospital with soldiers wounded in the fighting in Ukraine. He said the test was carried out yesterday – he did not specify where – and was the first time the weapon had been launched from its mother submarine and then activated its propulsion unit – a small nuclear reactor. Putin did not specify how long the test lasted, noting only that the Poseidon made a flight that lasted “a certain amount of time”. He claimed that it was unparalleled in terms of speed and depth: “There is no way to intercept it,” he said, describing the test as a huge success. “There is nothing like it,” he added at a meeting with the wounded soldiers, at a table on which tea and cookies were placed.
Putin announced the development of"Poseidon" in
A speech he gave in 2018
, then announced the development of additional futuristic weapons – including the"Borvosvetnik" cruise missile, the successful test of which Russia announced on Sunday. Putin explained at the time that Russia was in a nuclear arms race with the United States, according to him, partly because the latter withdrew in 2001 from a treaty that limited the development of ballistic missile defense systems. In the same speech, he also warned of the strategic threat he saw to Russia from the NATO alliance, whose expansion into Eastern European countries was a key justification for him when he invaded Ukraine four years later.
There are not many confirmed details about the nuclear torpedo"Poseidon", named after the god of the sea from Greek mythology, but it is estimated to be a kind of hybrid of an underwater torpedo missile and an unmanned aerial vehicle. Russian media reported that it is 20 meters long, 1.8 meters in diameter and weighs 100 tons. The missile is powered by a nuclear propulsion unit - and Putin claimed today that its nuclear reactor is"100 times smaller" than the reactors used in nuclear submarines.
Putin with wounded soldiers in Moscow. They didn't forget tea and cookies (Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev / POOL / AFP))
(Photo: Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL / AFP)
(Photo: Sputnik/Vladimir Gerdo/Pool via REUTERS)
(Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev / POOL / AFP)
Military analysts estimate that the missile has a range of about 10,000 km and can travel at a speed of about 185 km/h. They also estimate that it is capable of carrying a powerful nuclear warhead – with a power of about 2 megatons. Putin claimed today that the power of the warhead is “significantly stronger” than that of the warhead used in the advanced version of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a version known in the West as “the
Devil 2
".
Putin announced the test three days after the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had also successfully tested the Borovostnik nuclear cruise missile, which, according to Moscow, is also powered by a small nuclear reactor. Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov claimed that during the test, which was carried out on October 21, the missile flew for 15 hours and over a range of 14,000 km, using its nuclear propulsion unit, performed various maneuvers and"demonstrated high capabilities for evading missiles and air defense systems." Putin also referred to the test of this missile today, claiming that the reactor that powers it is"1,000 times smaller" than the one used by nuclear submarines.
Borovostnik,"Little Eagle" in Russian, is designated by NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, and Putin claimed in the same 2018 speech that it is"invincible," both against existing and future defense systems, and that it enjoys an unlimited flight range and is capable of moving on an unpredictable trajectory. Speaking in the Kremlin on Sunday, while wearing a military uniform, Putin claimed that the development of this missile also gives Russia a unique system"that no one else in the world has."
In 2019, Borovostnik made headlines for
A failed experiment in the Arctic
, where an explosion killed at least five Russian scientists. Military commentators doubt Russia's claims that the new weapons are invincible."The Borovestnik nuclear cruise missile is not invincible; NATO aircraft will be able to intercept it," argued Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons researcher at the Middlebury Institute in California."The problem with Borovestnik is that it is another step in an arms race that neither side has the ability to win." The Trump administration, it should be recalled, is currently promoting the development of new defense systems under the codename"
Golden dome
", while leaving the Israeli"Iron Dome", and Russia criticized the development of these systems this year.
A 2018 test of the Borovostnik nuclear cruise missile. A year later, five scientists were killed in an explosion during another test
The latest tests, as mentioned, join an exercise conducted last week by the Russian military for its strategic nuclear forces, those responsible for Russia's nuclear weapons, and according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow, the exercise included testing the readiness of all components of the"nuclear triad," that is, the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, sea, and air. The exercise included launching a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile, a Sineva missile from a nuclear submarine, and cruise missiles from Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
Trump also threatens: "We have a submarine off their coast"
These moves are seen as an explicit threatening message from Putin to the West, against the backdrop of an escalation in Trump's tone toward him - who last week, after months of threats and in the shadow of his frustration with Putin's refusal to hold back the fire in Ukraine, imposed heavy sanctions on the Russian oil industry for the first time, in an attempt to damage the Kremlin's revenues that finance the Russian war machine. Trump himself said on Tuesday, after the test of the Borovostnik cruise missile, that he was"inappropriate" and that Putin should focus on ending the war: "He needs to end the war. This is a war that was supposed to last one week and will soon last four years, that's what he needs to do instead of testing missiles."
Trump also sent his own threatening message, speaking to reporters on Air Force One during his visit to East Asia, he said that the US has a nuclear submarine"right off their shores," meaning Russia's, and that because of this proximity there is no need for long-range missiles at all:"We don't have to fly 8,000 miles, they don't play games with us, and we don't play games with them. We test missiles all the time."
US President Trump: "We have a submarine off their coast, we don't have to fly 8,000 miles" (Photo: AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Putin has repeatedly boasted about Russia's nuclear capabilities, against the backdrop of what he sees as the growing involvement of Kiev's Western allies in the war. Putin has already
Sleep in a year passed his country's nuclear doctrine
, and warned that under the new policy, Moscow may use nuclear weapons even in the event of a conventional attack against it - if this attack is supported by"another nuclear power."
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Trump administration had lifted a restriction it had imposed on Ukraine in recent months that had long prevented Kiev from using certain missiles – including British Storm Shadow missiles – deep inside Russia. Trump claimed that the report was “fake news,” but according to the newspaper, Ukraine had already used such a missile this month to attack an explosives factory in the Russian city of Bryansk. When Putin was asked to comment on the report last week, he
