Russia has launched a submarine designed to carry the nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed Poseidon torpedo, which Moscow says will ensure the country’s maritime security.
The submarine, named Khabarovsk, is classified as a “heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser,” the state-run Tass news agency reported. Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said the launch ceremony was a significant event for the Russian military.
Newsweek has emailed both the Russian defense and foreign ministries for comment.
Why It Matters
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Poseidon torpedo had been successfully tested, claiming the weapon is unlike any other in the world and has far greater power than the country’s most advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Russia‘s submarines pose a major threat to the United States and its allies across the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Putin has vowed to build a modern and powerful navy to defend the country’s national interests across all areas of the world’s oceans.
Russia has a total of 14 submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons, 12 armed with ballistic missiles plus the Belgorod and the Khabarovsk that are armed with the Poseidon torpedo, the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project reported.
What To Know
The Khabarovsk was launched at a shipyard in Severodvinsk in Russia’s Far North. The only part of the submarine shown in footage released by the Russian Defense Ministry was its stern and pump-jet propulsor, submarine expert H.I. Sutton noted on Sunday.
Few details of the submarine’s design and capabilities were officially provided, with Belousov saying the vessel is designed to carry “underwater weapons and robotic systems.” The Tass news agency reported that the submarine will conduct sea trials.
Citing satellite imagery of Severodvinsk, military analyst Tony Roper estimated the Khabarovsk is 443 to 459 feet long and 44 feet wide. Sutton said the submarine shares many design elements with the Borei-A-class nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
Russia plans to operate three Poseidon-armed submarines, with the third scheduled for delivery by 2027. The Belgorod, capable of carrying six Poseidon torpedoes, was launched in 2019 and delivered in 2022, according to the defense outlet Naval News.
The Khabarovsk was originally scheduled for launch in the first half of 2021. The delay was partly caused by a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic and likely also resulted from design changes and resources being directed to the war in Ukraine, Sutton said.
While the Belgorod is a modified Oscar II-class guided-missile submarine, the Khabarovsk is a new class of submarine, capable of carrying the same number of Poseidon torpedoes as the Belgorod, according to the Nuclear Information Project.
Both the Belgorod and the Khabarovsk will be homeported at a base on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s Far East. A source close to Russia’s Defense Ministry told Tass in 2023 that the submarines are tasked with strategic deterrence.
What People Are Saying
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his visit to a military hospital on October 29: “[T]he Poseidon is much more powerful than the [Russian] Sarmat [intercontinental ballistic missile], and it also surpasses all existing systems in speed and operational depth and currently has no equivalent and there will be none any time soon. The are also no interception methods.”
The defense outlet The War Zone commented on Monday: “As it stands, however, Russia is an important step closer to fielding its first submarine purpose-designed to carry the Poseidon nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed torpedo. As such, this is a program that will be very interesting to see develop over the coming years and one that the Russian Navy’s key adversaries will be watching very closely, as this weapon moves toward operational capability.”
What Happens Next
It remains unclear whether Russia will expand its submarine fleet designed to carry the Poseidon torpedo to further strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrent against the West.