By David Israel

23 Tevet 5783 – January 16, 2023

The Poseidon Nuclear Underwater Drone launched.

The first batch of Poseidon nuclear-capable underwater drones for the special-purpose nuclear-powered submarine Belgorod has been manufactured and is ready for action, TASS reported Monday, citing a source close to the Russian military and defense industry.

The Poseidon is an autonomous, nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle capable of delivering conventional and nuclear warheads. It is one of six new strategic weapons announced by President Vladimir Putin in March 2018. Russian shipbuilders will deliver three special-purpose nuclear-powered submarines to the Russian Navy by 2027.

The Poseidon warhead, mounted on a cobalt bomb, can contaminate a large area with radiation and be conceived as a radiological second-strike weapon. Unlike normal thermonuclear weapons that cause radioactive fallout, the fallout from an underwater detonation (that doesn’t take place in shallow water) will be greatly reduced. Much of the radioactivity will be deposited in the sea and carried by ocean currents.

Used against an aircraft carrier battle group, and benefiting from stealth technology to elude acoustic tracking devices, the Poseidon would seriously impair its chances of defending itself. The drone can detonate its very large warhead from a short distance at a very high speed, allowing anti-submarine warfare units very little time to react.