Russia has successfully completed tests on parts of its next-generation “Poseidon” torpedo, a Kremlin-backed outlet has claimed.
The testing focused on reactors for the Poseidon unmanned nuclear-powered underwater drones, and confirmed their “operability and safety”, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti claimed on June 23.
Citing an unnamed source in the “military-industry complex”, the news outlet added: “They are ready to work as intended.”
The first “sea tests” will be carried out later this summer, RIA Novosti also said.
Poseidon is a torpedo that can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
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RIA Novosti claimed the torpedo is “capable of causing a tsunami when used off the coast of the enemy”.
This development comes a few months after a retired Russian military commander, Yevgeny Buzhinsky, and Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov had brazenly discussed Britain being struck by Poseidon torpedoes if NATO troops dared to enter Ukraine.
During a chilling exchange on Russian TV Rossiya 1, Lt Gen Buzhinsky said: “If we are to believe [Hungarian Prime Minister Victor] Orban, if they are really about to deploy troops [to Ukraine], well, it will all end with Poseidon and a tsunami, a 300 or 500-metre wave.”
Mr Solovyov chimed in to say: “And then, Great Britain will be no more!”
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To which Mr Buzhinsky replied: “Yes, Great Britain will definitely be no more, I am talking about the US.”
Assessing Poseidon’s potential danger to the Western world, a report by the Congressional Research Service – a public policy research institute of the US Congress – claimed in March 2022 Moscow intends for this to be a “second or third-strike option that could ensure a retaliatory strike against US cities”.
The existence of these weapons first came to light in the West in 2015, three years before Russia formally announced them.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin said during an address in March 2018 his country had developed “unmanned submersible vehicles” much quicker than submarines.
He boasted: “They are quiet, highly manoeuvrable and have hardly any vulnerabilities for the enemy to exploit. There is simply nothing in the world capable of withstanding them.”
One year later, Russian state news agency TASS claimed the country’s Navy would deploy Poseidon drones across four submarines part of the Northern and Pacific fleets.
In January, the agency reported Russia had produced the first set of torpedoes, which are expected to be operational between the end of next year and early 2025.
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