Since a grim New Year’s Eve message describing the West as Russia’s true enemy in the war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has sent several signals that Russia will not back down. He has despatched hypersonic missiles to the Atlantic and appointed his top general to run the war.

US and Russian officials have both described Poseidon as a new category of retaliatory weapon, capable of triggering radioactive ocean swells to render coastal cities uninhabitable.

“The first Poseidon ammunition loads have been manufactured, and the Belgorod submarine will receive them in the near future,” TASS, a state news agency, quoted the source as saying.

TASS said the main components of Poseidon, including a nuclear reactor to give the torpedo its own power source, had been successfully completed. The crew of the Belgorod nuclear submarine has also completed tests with models of the torpedo, TASS said.

The defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Putin first announced what would become known as Poseidon in 2018, saying it was a fundamentally new type of strategic nuclear weapon, confirming it would have its own nuclear power supply.

There are few confirmed details about the Poseidon in the public domain but it is essentially a cross between a torpedo and a drone which can be launched from a nuclear submarine.

Russia’s defence ministry has shown videos of the 24-metre Poseidon, known as Kanyon by NATO, including simulations showing it destroying an enemy aircraft carrier and hitting the shoreline.

Putin’s torpedo

The Poseidon has its roots in Soviet plans under Josef Stalin for a nuclear torpedo which would be able to devastate the shores of the United States.

In the 2018 speech, Putin said the range of the torpedo would be unlimited and that it could operate at extreme depths at a speed many times that of any submarine or other torpedoes.

“They are very low noise, have high maneuverability and are practically indestructible for the enemy. There is no weapon that can counter them in the world today,” Putin said.

The Poseidon will be carried by the K-329 Belgorod, a special purpose nuclear submarine that was built by the Sevmash Shipyard.

The United States said in its Nuclear Posture Review in 2022 that Russia and China “continue to expand and diversify their nuclear capabilities, to include novel and destabilizing systems.”

“Russia is pursuing several novel nuclear-capable systems designed to hold the U.S. homeland or Allies and partners at risk,” according to the Posture Review.

Last year, the US Naval Institute said Russia’s development of Poseidon turned assumptions about submarine-launched nuclear weapons upside down.

“Perhaps most frightening, this nuclear weapon has the potential for autonomous operation,” the institute said.

“A fully operational Kanyon would have an incredible strategic impact,” it said in an article. “As a new delivery platform, it is not covered by current nuclear arms treaties.”

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The world first became aware of Russia’s Poseidon torpedo in 2018, when it was revealed in a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The torpedo is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed, autonomous underwater vehicle designed to deliver a massive payload of explosives.

The Russians claim to have tested the Poseidon torpedo in November 2019. According to them, the Russian Navy conducted a successful test launch of the Poseidon torpedo from a submerged submarine. The test was conducted in the White Sea and was reportedly successful.

However, it should be noted that there is no evidence of the Poseidon being tested, especially over an intercontinental range. There are serious doubts about its operational status. Some sources have made exaggerated claims about Poseidon’s ability to destroy coastal infrastructure.

In addition to the above they will not be able to test the Poseidon for two reasons :

If a nuclear detonation test went wrong and the ensuing radioactive tsunami hit Crimea, it might make the situation extremely difficult for Russia.

Without a nuclear weapon, a test failure would raise questions about the effectiveness of Russia’s nuclear deterrent.

There are other torpedoes with similar capabilities to the Poseidon in the world’s navies. For example, the United States Navy has the Mark 48 torpedo, which is a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed, autonomous underwater vehicle with a range of up to 6,000 kilometers and a speed of up to 50 knots. Additionally, the Royal Navy has the Spearfish torpedo, which is a conventional-powered, nuclear-armed, autonomous underwater vehicle with a range of up to 10,000 kilometers and a speed of up to 50 knots.

The Poseidon Torpedo or Status-6 is an autonomous, nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

The designer claims it can autonomously navigate to the intended target, travelling at speeds up to 200 km/hr, and deliver a 100 MT nuclear warhead that will generate tsunami waves 500 meters in height, all while remaining undetected throughout its journey to the target.

Several Russian submarines are believed to be armed with the Poseidon torpedo. These include the Borei-class submarines, the Yasen-class submarines, and the Lada-class submarines. Additionally, the Russian Navy is reportedly planning to equip its new Project 885M submarines with the Poseidon torpedo.

The first question that comes up is, “How will the torpedo navigate to the intended target with enough accuracy and without being detected?” Inertial Navigation System (INS) alone is not going to be sufficient. It would have to be augmented with seabed Terrain Controur Matching (TERCOM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Given the size of the guidance, navigation and control compartment in the torpedo, it would make sense if they included a backup legacy navigation system such as GLONASS and rode extremely low frequency beacons (82 Hz) using phase adjustment, whose transmitters would be land-based (at Murmansk and the others might be based near Venezuela or Cuba). During a war, the first targets would be these land-based transmitters; the torpedo would then switch to the GLONASS/INS system. The extra space in the guidance, navigation & control (GN&C) compartment could be used for the equipment for seabed TERCOM, data for the predetermined paths, autonomous switching between operation modes, terrain avoidance, drift calculation modules, etc.

The next aspect is the speed of the torpedo. The design bureau claims achievable speeds of around 200 km/h. To achieve these speeds, a high-power output reactor would be required. The downside is that it would make the torpedo very detectable and lose out on its surprise element. We can expect a reasonable output from the power plant. Given the dimensions of the platform, the reactor compartment is around 6–8 ft in length, and a rough estimate of the diameter is around 6-6.5 ft. Now the catch is that if the shielding is high to lower the radiation and its thermal signature on any anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform, the internal core dimensions would reduce significantly and the output could be expected to be a lot less (around 3-5 MW). The other case is that if the shielding is minimal and the reactor core would be a bit larger with more space to accommodate coolant volume, the expected output would be around 6-7 MW. The choice of reactor would be a gas-cooled reactor, as the power output mentioned above would be more achievable with the same. In the event that a pressurized water reactor is used, the coolant pumps would basically advertise the location of the torpedo to any observer, making it a less desirable choice.

During engagement, assuming the torpedo moves at very slow speed towards the coastal target or a carrier battle group taking many weeks and then sprints at high speeds towards the target near the surface. The onboard batteries would need to be charged, assuming a low duty cycle, the output from the reactor and the storage capacity of the batteries, it would make adjustments in its final approach. The batteries could be Li-Ion batteries. Considering silent operations, the charging process could take many days and finally when the sprinting is required it would dispense the battery power making the high speeds viable. It could be possible to do both super slow and super fast propulsion. For super slow movements, the reactor could operate at 70-80% capacity without engaging the coolant pumps. As speculated Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) would be the fuel to make this possible. Minimizing movement of control rods would be essential in making the platform even more stealthy. The claim of speeds of up-to 100 knots can be disputed and brought down to a reasonable 67-74 knots range (after assuming the weight of the platform, the power requirements for cooling systems, the GN&C systems). During detonation of the warhead, the reactor would also likely undergo fission and provide additional yield to the blast.

The yield of the warhead is claimed to be around 100 MT which might not conform to the dimensional limitations of the Poseidon’s warhead compartment. The rough estimate of the compartment dimensions for the nuclear warhead are around 9-11 ft in length and 6.5 ft in diameter. The warhead design has certain limitations even if it is of the relatively newer generation ones. The amount of fissile material, the arrangement for the primary and secondary or the third stage would require more space and volume. We can consider the Tsar Bomba as a benchmark in regards to the dimensions. Over the course of years, the material and geometrical considerations have evolved but they still conform to the basic design laws. The amount of tritium required and the pressure required would be considerably larger. The metallurgical considerations for the plutonium pit of such size would severely limit the yield. The geometric setting for the x-ray transport phenomena to maximize the yield would stretch out the warhead. Keeping the above into consideration, the current size of the Poseidon’s warhead would be limited to anything under 10-15 MT (theoretically).

Another important consideration is the intended target, the most probable target as has also been conveyed through the propaganda is the heavily populated coastal regions. According to my calculations, the most probable target would be the region where two tectonic plates share their boundaries. There are coastal regions, especially cities and landmasses in very close proximity to the boundary of the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate. The buildup of stress in the San Andreas Fault might be quickly released if a detonation or a series of detonations of such yield take place. The long predicted earthquake might come a little earlier and cause devastation to the landmasses in the proximity. After the detonation in the near surface region of such landmasses, a Tsunami can be expected but the tide of the Tsunami might not exceed 100-150 ft. It will submerge some areas, but the subsequent destabilization of the San Andreas fault would be a much bigger concern.

Theoretically, the Poseidon torpedo is capable of causing a huge tsunami. Its yield of up to 100 megatons, can cause a devastating tsunami if detonated in the ocean. It was claimed that the United Kingdom could potentially be drowned in a tsunami from a Poseidon torpedo attack. As it is, the UK is also at risk of tsunamis generated by submarine landslides, which can occur when large amounts of sediment are displaced by an earthquake. Additionally, the UK is at risk of tsunamis generated by volcanic eruptions, which can occur when large amounts of magma are displaced by an eruption.

One way to counter the Poseidon is through the use of anti-torpedo systems, such as the US Navy’s Mk-48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedo. This system is designed to detect and intercept incoming torpedoes, allowing for a greater chance of successful defence against the Poseidon. Additionally, other countermeasures, such as acoustic decoys, can be used to confuse and divert the torpedo away from its intended target.

Verdict : While the Poseidon Nuclear Torpedo excels at fulfilling the internal and external propaganda, but the claims made by the designer need to be fully validated.

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