The Russian Severodvinsk Shipyard has launched the primary Khabarovsk class 10,000 ton nuclear powered submarine, which represents a wholly new kind of strategic warship designed particularly to deploy 2M39 Poseidon nuclear-armed underwater drones. The procurement of Khabarovsk class is anticipated to enhance investments in increasing the fleet of Borei II class ballistic missile submarines, pioneering a second technique of delivering mass strategic nuclear assaults by sea. Attending the ship’s launch ceremony, Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov noticed:“At present is a big occasion for us: the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Khabarovsk is being launched from the slipway of the famend Sevmash shipyard.” “Carrying underwater weapons and robotic programs, it would allow us to efficiently accomplish missions associated to making sure the safety of Russia’s maritime borders and defending its nationwide pursuits in numerous components of the world’s oceans,” he added.
Though the 2M39 Poseidon is already in service, they’re presently deployed by solely a single warship, the submarine Belogrod, which is a closely modified Soviet Oscar II class cruise missile submarine that was tailored to function a provider for the drones. This served as a stopgap till the considerably extra succesful and stealthier Khabarovsk class ships could possibly be introduced into service. In late October Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the event of the Poseidon, noting that it makes use of a miniaturised model of a submarine nuclear reactor roughly one % the scale. The drones are single use weapons, and are designed to detonate their warheads deep underneath water to set off radioactive tsunamis, which may inflict mass destruction on enemy coasts. Not like missiles that are launched by the submarines into the air, assaults that depend on detonating warheads underneath the ocean’s floor are thought of successfully inconceivable to intercept.
Because the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 Russia has significantly prioritised investments in its strategic nuclear forces, making certain that they nonetheless lead the world in efficiency in lots of respects of their capabilities. Whereas the nation’s typical power have more and more lagged behind main rivals, particularly, the US, China and the Koreas, strategic forces have pioneered a variety of latest capabilities, of which the 2M39 Poseidon and the Khabarovsk class submarines that deploy them are however one instance. Russia was the primary to introduce hypersonic glide autos into service with the operationalisation of the Avangard intercontinental vary system, with a shorter ranged spinoff of the design reported to have additionally been developed for the brand new Oreshnik intermediate vary ballistic missile. The 9M730 Burevestnik cruise missile which was flight examined in late October is the one nuclear-powered missile kind on the planet, offering an successfully limitless vary, which additional severely complicates attainable missile defence efforts.
