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Russia may be preparing to test a nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo, CNN reported Thursday.
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A U.S. official told the outlet that a Russian vessel was seen in test waters in the Arctic Ocean.
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The Poseidon torpedo was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018.
Russian efforts to test unique nuclear torpedo prototype may have hit a roadblock, US officials say told CNN on thursday.
Self-propelled torpedoes, or unmanned underwater vehicles, unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 claim to have unlimited range and carry nuclear warheads up to 125 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It has been. According to Popular Mechanics.
“Because unmanned underwater vehicles can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, they can engage a wide variety of targets, including aircraft fleets, coastal fortifications and infrastructure,” Putin said. at the time, claimed to be invulnerable to countermeasures. “There is absolutely nothing in the world that can withstand them.”
All types of torpedoes are basically unstoppable. However, moving heavy objects through water, which has much more friction than air, has limitations due to range and speed issues. Russia’s claim to use nuclear power to propel Poseidon could solve this in an unprecedented way – if it actually works. told CNN that Russia appears to be having a hard time trying to confirm it.
In 2019, the Russian Ministry of Defense Video published Although it appears to indicate underwater testing of the system, it is labeled a “doomsday” device because of its enormous potential payload and theoretical ability to generate a radioactive tsunami that could wipe out coastal cities. Some people are attached.
Indeed, Russian attempts to build similar nuclear-powered missiles have so far failed, and in August 2019 explosion that killed At least five Russian engineers.
The latest apparent effort to test torpedoes is the growing concern The Russian president has threatened to use nuclear weapons to alienate Western support for Ukraine.
However, attempts to test torpedoes in open water may have run into technical difficulties, and submarines capable of carrying torpedoes have been seen returning to port, according to CNN. Thanks to sanctions tensions and the war in Ukraine.
Some people are skeptical that the Poseidon torpedo would work, believing it impossible to reliably fit a working nuclear reactor to the size of a cruise missile. No country has yet succeeded.
Sheryl Loefer, a former nuclear scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, says Poseidon is a “boondoggle”, possibly intended to get the US to develop a similar (and expensive) system of its own. suggests.
“The military must take the potential of these weapons seriously, but it is clear that they have not been put to practical use.” she wrote in 2021“And I’m willing to bet they never will.”
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