Russia tested the nuclear-powered ‘Poseidon’ underwater drone

Russia has successfully tested its new nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone, Poseidon. Poseidon is designed to travel at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

• Russia has successfully tested its new nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone, Poseidon, and declared it impossible to intercept.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin made this announcement just days after reporting the successful test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. This move is seen as a signal to Washington amid tensions over Ukraine.
• He claimed that Poseidon surpasses all existing systems in speed and depth. He stated that the nuclear reactor powering Poseidon is 100 times smaller than those on submarines, and its nuclear warhead’s power is much greater than Russia’s potential Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.
• Russian media reported that Poseidon was designed to detonate near coastlines and generate a powerful radioactive tsunami.

What is Poseidon?

• Poseidon is a state-of-the-art autonomous, nuclear-powered underwater vehicle capable of reaching unprecedented depths and speeds.
• Poseidon is designed to travel at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. Known as “Canyon” in NATO and formerly known by Moscow as “Status-6,” the drone is 20 meters long, 1.8 meters in diameter, and weighs 100 tons.
• Moscow claims that due to its nuclear power, its strike range is unlimited, but its speed and depth make it difficult to detect.
• Putin said that Poseidon’s power is “even greater than the most promising Sarmat intercontinental-range missile” (also known as SS-X-29 or Satan II).
• Poseidon is one of six new weapons referred to as “super weapons” — which the Russian President mentioned in his 2018 State of the Nation address.
• Since the announcement of the six weapons, including Poseidon and Burevestnik, in 2018, Putin has described this super arsenal as a response to the U.S. strategy of building a missile defense shield.