Poseidon is an ‘Intercontinental Nuclear-Powered Nuclear-Armed Autonomous Torpedo’. It is a giant torpedo which can hit coastal cities with devastating results. Compared to an intercontinental ballistic missile it is very slow, but possibly unstoppable.
Russia maintains that it can also be used as a tactical nuclear weapon against warships. High-value targets would include aircraft carriers. This is harder to rationalize than the second-strike nuclear deterrence role, but it is a constant theme. Ever since it was first revealed in November 2015, then known as Status-6. it has been described as a multirole system.
The weapon’s expected speed, around 70 knots, is fast enough to make it realistically uncatchable to existing torpedoes. And its operating depths, perhaps as deep as 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) puts it beyond reach. Western planners will have to develop new weapons to intercept it. And that will take considerable time and investment.
It uses a mini nuclear reactor for power, and can deliver a small nuclear warhead.
Hat tip: Isegoria, who always finds cool stuff.
Now add to the fact that the torpedoes exist that one of the talking points since the Ukraine mess started is that the Russians have a policy of a first use of nuclear weapon. It's supposed to be something like they'll throw a tactical nuke at you to see how you react.
ReplyDeleteConsider them taking out an aircraft carrier and not even a "small coastal city" (like yours or mine). How would the war hawks react to the loss of a few thousand sailors?
Regarding countermeasures.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hisutton.com/Countering_Russian_Poseidon_Torpedo.html
It's certianly slightly off-subject but I can't help but think that the loss of the first aircraft carrier will be the end of sailing them into hazard.
ReplyDeleteAnd wouldn't one of these torpedos still count as a First Strike even if aimed at a carrier on the high seas?
1) B.S.
ReplyDelete2) Unstoppable? It is to laugh.
3) 70 knots? About as fast as a Model T, or Bell 47? Okay.
4) 1000m deep? Unreachable?!?
5) Intercontinental range, at the speed of a cigarette boat? At subsurface speeds which would light up the entire SOSUS net in about a minute, and deliver range and bearing information in about 4 seconds after that? Keep this up, and I'll need seatbelts for my chair to keep from falling out of it.
Shout out to any amateur nuclear physicists in the audience:
What's the size of the fireball from a subsurface nuclear detonation of, say, 500kT? 1 MT? (The radiation from which would be negligible. The Navy policy since the 1960s has been "Nukes don't leave holes in the water.")
We've had nuclear depth charges and torpedoes ourselves since the 1950s.
Odds that the Russians secretly developed this without our gaining any knowledge of it: 1000:1, against.
Odds of us not being able to stop it: 10,000:1, against.
Not buying it as anything more than cover article pornbait for Popular Mechanics, from back around 1960.
There's a 90% chance it's vaporware, which Russians have a long history of producing.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I doubt this would work without being the size of a submarine, and given Russia's struggle with stealth I suspect it would be loud enough to follow.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, as the Navy keeps demonstrating every couple of years, navigating deep, accurately, is hard AND our maps stink at depth. It's more than likely if such a device were built and ran at depth, it would git something well before it got to its target.
Oh, and 70 knots, sustained underwater? Highly unlikely - MAYBE a burst speed, with assist from a gas generator.
Seems kind of silly even if it is not vaporware. I call Russian BS to induce our MIC to spend money uselessly.
ReplyDeleteJust because Putin claims they have this weapon does NOT mean it will actually work as claimed. The Russians/Soviets have a LONG and storied history of vastly overstating their
ReplyDeletemilitary prowess and technological capabilities.
The British Spearfish torpedo has a cruising speed of 60 knots and a burst speed of 80 knots. With a nuclear power plant, there's no fuel limitation to keep a torpedo from running at or near its top speed. So 70 knots is completely believable.
ReplyDelete