The Russian nuclear submarine K-329 Belgorod is operating in the Arctic seas and it is suspected that its mission is to test the Poseidon torpedo missile, capable of transporting nuclear warheads tens of thousands of kilometers. According to a NATO report cited by the republic, the alliance is on alert and is monitoring any possible launching of torpedoes from the submarine.
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The nuclear submarine Belgorod
With a length of 184 meters and a width of 15 meters, the Belgorod can navigate underwater at about sixty kilometers per hour with practically unlimited autonomy. It is believed that it can stay 120 days without returning to the surface. In the past few days, the possible sabotage of Nord Stream has been talked about in the analyses, but there is no evidence of this. The newspaper adds that NATO’s suspicions, relayed to allied commands, are that the submarine is in the process of testing Poseidon in the Kara Sea area. Codenamed “Status-6”: a 24-meter-long torpedo capable of carrying a nuclear warhead of probably two megatons. The torpedo missile was supposed to explode near the coast and cause a “radioactive tsunami”.
Source Naval News
The Poseidon nuclear drones
The Poseidon nuclear drones, known to NATO by the codename Kanyon, can be armed with nuclear, conventional warheads or research instruments. The Belgorod, the result of Project 09825, was built by Jsc Sevmash shipyards, part of United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), Russia’s largest shipbuilding group.
nuclear weapons on board
The commander of the Russian Navy, Adm. Nikolay Yvemenov, stated that Belgorod “provides Russia with new research opportunities and supports it in scientific expeditions or rescue operations in remote areas of the oceans around the world”. The Belgorod was supposed to be delivered in 2020, but the project suffered delays in completing all tests. The next special submarine to be delivered to the Moscow Navy will be the Khabarovsk, which, Interfax writes, is to be equipped with Poseidon drones with nuclear warheads.
The range
Having Belgorod now in service provides the Russian Navy with a submarine attack and intelligence platform capable of performing a variety of missions. It can fire Posideon torpedoes that can destroy cities from afar. It can locate and manipulate objects on the seabed, including communication cables, which it can potentially touch or cut, blinding opponents. And it offers Russia another tool to dominate the rapidly opening Arctic, where melting ice could create intercontinental sea routes that could be shorter than transiting the Suez Canal.