MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had successfully tested its nuclear-powered Poseidon super torpedo, a weapon military analysts say is capable of triggering vast radioactive ocean swells.
Speaking during a visit to the P.V. Mandryka Central Military Clinical Hospital in Moscow, where he met soldiers wounded in the war with Ukraine, Putin said the test had taken place on Tuesday.
“For the first time, we managed not only to launch it from a submarine using its booster motor, but also to turn on the nuclear power unit, which powered the vehicle for a certain period of time,” Putin said, according to remarks published by the Kremlin and state news agency TASS. “There is nothing like this in the world, and no existing interception methods.”
Putin described the test as “a huge success,” adding that the Poseidon’s nuclear propulsion system and operational range made it unique. The torpedo can travel up to 10,000 kilometres at speeds of around 185 kilometres per hour.
The Poseidon, known in NATO as “Kanyon,” is believed to be 20 metres long, 1.8 metres in diameter and weigh about 100 tonnes. Russian media reported that the weapon can carry a warhead of up to two megatons and is powered by a liquid-metal-cooled nuclear reactor.
Putin also said the Poseidon’s destructive capability exceeds that of Russia’s most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat, which he said would soon enter combat duty.
“There’s no [missile] like the Sarmat in the world. We don’t have one in service yet, but it will be operational soon,” he said.
The test follows a series of high-profile demonstrations of Russia’s strategic arsenal. On October 21, Moscow conducted a test of its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, followed by large-scale nuclear launch drills the next day.
Putin praised Russian scientists and engineers for developing the Burevestnik, describing it as a major technological breakthrough.
“This small nuclear propulsion system, while comparable in power to a reactor on a nuclear submarine, is a thousand times smaller,” he said, adding that its technologies could be applied in the Arctic energy sector and in Russia’s lunar programme.
Western analysts, cited by Reuters, view the Poseidon and Burevestnik programmes as part of a broader effort by Moscow to modernise its nuclear arsenal and demonstrate military parity with the United States and China.
US President Donald Trump, who has criticised Moscow for the ongoing Ukraine war, said following the Burevestnik test that Putin should “end the war in Ukraine instead of testing nuclear-powered missiles.”
The Kremlin says the tests are intended to signal that Russia will not bow to Western pressure over the conflict in Ukraine and will continue to advance its strategic deterrent capabilities.
