Russia has produced the first set of nuclear-capable Poseidon super torpedoes, state news agency TASS reported on Monday, citing an unidentified military source.
The first batch of long-awaited Poseidon super torpedoes has been manufactured for use on the Belgorod special-purpose nuclear submarine, a source close to the military told TASS.
“The first set of Poseidons has been made, the Belgorod submarine will receive them in the near future,” the source said.
The Poseidon is a nuclear-powered Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo whose development was first announced in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who predicted at the time that it would be a fundamentally new type of nuclear weapon.
The anonymous military source also told TASS that separate tests of Poseidon’s main units, including its nuclear power source, had already been successfully completed.
The Russian military has not yet commented on the Poseidon’s completion.
Back in November 2022, CNN reported that the Russian Navy had unsuccessfully attempted to test a Poseidon missile in the Arctic Ocean.
The development of Poseidon was the Russian response to the US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and aimed to expand Russia’s ability to defeat US missile defense systems.