Russia has built the first examples of an \u201cunstoppable\u201d nuclear torpedo<\/a> intended to devastate coastal cities by creating radioactive tsunamis, state media has claimed.<\/p>\n “The first set of Poseidons have been manufactured, and the Belgorod submarine will receive them<\/a> in the near future,” Tass, a Russian state news agency reported, quoting an unnamed defence source.<\/p>\n The Poseidon nuclear torpedo has its roots in Soviet plans for a weapon that would be able to render coastal cities on the shores of the United States uninhabitable.<\/p>\n Since the war in Ukraine began, Kremlin propagandists have often threatened to destroy London using the torpedo<\/a>.<\/p>\n First unveiled by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in 2018, both US and Kremlin officials believe that the torpedo is a new breed of retaliatory weapon<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 24 metre long torpedo was designed to travel up to 80mph underwater carrying a two megaton nuclear warhead – more than 100 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.<\/p>\n Christopher Ford, then US assistant secretary of state for international security and non-proliferation, warned in 2020 that the weapons were being designed to \u201cinundate US coastal cities<\/a> with radioactive tsunamis”.<\/p>\n The US Naval Institute, a military think tank, said the development of Poseidon turned assumptions about submarine-launched nuclear weapons upside down.<\/p>\n The weapon is expected to enter into service around 2027, but has reportedly been blighted by technical difficulties.<\/p>\n Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n In November last year, US intelligence officials reported that initial sea tests had failed.<\/p>\n The torpedo had been due to be tested in the Arctic on the Belgorod – which, at 178 metres long, is the largest submarine in the world.<\/p>\n But the vessel returned to port at Severomorsk, the Russian Northern Fleet base, without any evidence the Poseidon had been tested, according to reports.<\/p>\n Tass reported that the submarine’s crew had since completed tests with models of the torpedo.<\/p>\n Analysts, however, say the Kremlin<\/a> has a history of exaggerating the capability of newly developed weapons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Justin Crump, of Sibylline, an intelligence and geopolitical risk company, said:<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the Poseidon is certainly a new form of weapon<\/a>, it is principally a deterrent in nature, designed to avoid missile defence mechanisms.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/PoseidonDrone-1024x541.jpg\")
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