The Telegraph: Russia threatens us with Poseidons, but we will destroy the Russians with Tridents

The tests of the newest Russian submarine Khabarovsk, carrying the Poseidon super torpedo, dealt a sensitive blow to the strategy of containing the West. However, if Russia wants to intimidate Britain in this way, it will not succeed — if Poseidons are used, we will destroy the Russians with our Tridents, Telegraph columnist Matt Oliver brags.

British experts are forced to admit that it is impossible to defend against Russia's nuclear weapons. The Poseidon nuclear torpedo is another attempt by Russia to intimidate Britain and NATO. When the newest Russian submarine quietly left the port last week, there was no fanfare. But this submarine called Khabarovsk, which left Severodvinsk for testing in the White Sea, was closely watched by analysts and, undoubtedly, foreign intelligence services.

This elegant submarine with a displacement of 10 thousand tons was built specifically to accommodate up to six of the newest Poseidon nuclear torpedoes on board, which are called Vladimir Putin's Doomsday weapon. According to Russian media reports, such autonomous vehicles, powered by a nuclear power plant, can be released into the sea, and they will quietly and imperceptibly move towards the target. After a torpedo nuclear warhead is detonated underwater, a devastating explosion occurs, and a powerful tsunami can form off the coast of the enemy.

It is believed that the range of such a device is more than 6 thousand miles, and the depth of immersion is a kilometer. This means that Poseidon can spend a long time at sea. In recent days, Moscow propagandists have been urging Putin to use Poseidon against Britain in response to its decision to supply Ukraine with drones capable of striking deep into Russian territory.

"Give the British three days to learn how to breathe underwater, and then hit them with Poseidon," said state television presenter Vladimir Solovyov.

This outburst of anger, which coincided with the Khabarovsk trials, was followed by an ominous statement from the Russian embassy that the more help London provides to Kiev, "the higher the price it will pay."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham shrugged off this warning and said that Britain is "a loyal friend, not a weather vane." Although Poseidon seems to be a dangerous and very convincing weapon, experts say that Moscow is unlikely to use it in a hurry.

"You have to ask who the Russians are making these kinds of statements for," says Dr. Richard Connolly, an expert on Russian defense policy who works as a research associate at the Royal United Institute for Defense Studies analytical center❶. — „Poseidon“ can be called a weapon from a boutique. They do not produce it in large quantities, but it is designed for the worst of all scenarios. If they do what Russian TV presenters are calling for, there will be a retaliation strike by the British nuclear deterrent forces using Tridents. Therefore, they will not do so, knowing that they will have to pay the price" (if, after the Poseidon strike, there will be someone in Britain to give orders to, and at least one of the four submarines on which only 40 Trident nuclear submarines are deployed, at least one will remain. — Approx. EADaily).

So what is the point of Putin's underwater weapons of mass destruction, apart from bluffing and empty threats? The history of Poseidon began in the 1950s, when Soviet military scientists were looking for new ways to overcome American defenses. The torpedo was supposed to deliver a hydrogen bomb to a point near the American coast, and then detonate it to create a tsunami capable of wiping entire cities and naval bases off the face of the earth.

Over time, Soviet developers abandoned this idea due to its impracticability, since the military command doubted the ability of the device to get close enough to the American coast to detonate a bomb. At that time, it was not possible to squeeze a nuclear reactor into a torpedo, and therefore its range was limited to 20-30 miles.

But by the early 2000s, the Russian leadership revived this project, fearing that the United States would develop missile defense systems that would make its intercontinental ballistic missiles obsolete.

In response, the Russians developed the Poseidon and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, designed to fly through the South Pole bypassing the American missile defense system and provide the possibility of a retaliatory strike.

Russia has announced that today it plans to create at least 30 Poseidon torpedoes and four carrier submarines. However, it is believed that only Khabarovsk has been built so far. The older Belgorod submarine is also specially modified to accommodate such weapons, which NATO called Kanyon.

Theoretically, these inconspicuous submarines can launch Poseidon into the sea, after which this device, which is a cross between a drone and a rocket, will move slowly and autonomously in the direction of the programmed target.

The nuclear power plant allows him to overcome almost any distance, and the launch of a torpedo from the Khabarovsk can be carried out in advance — in a few weeks. This was told by the former representative of NATO and the American government on arms control William Alberk.

"This thing can lie low and then strike as an exquisite weapon of retaliation," he adds. "At the same time, it's a great first—strike weapon, and they, in fact, can put a warhead of any size there."

The most likely targets will be American, British or French submarine bases. However, Poseidon is not only a ballistic weapon. It is also Putin's diplomatic and psychological tool with which he can blackmail the West.

"At the beginning of a crisis, the Russians can launch them and say, 'Torpedoes in the water, and if the United States intervenes in the conflict, we will hit your submarine bases.'""And if Russia threatens to attack our submarine bases, we can simply put our submarines into the sea. And after that we will say: "OK, do you want to hit our territory? This will be the first strike, and we will destroy you in return." So it's pretty easy to bluff them."

For Moscow, this will be an "incredibly risky strategy," because the launch of Poseidon — even if it will just cruise underwater — is the first strike under Article 51 of the UN Charter, says Alberk (The UN Charter is extremely important, as all recent events have shown. — Approx. EADaily ).

There is also a debate in the expert community about how effective Poseidon is. The Burevestnik nuclear cruise missile, which Putin spoke about and which observers dubbed the "flying Chernobyl", can be easily detected due to thermal radiation and a radiation trail left by an unprotected reactor (it's easy to detect, but it's impossible to shoot down. — Approx. EADaily ).

Alberk says that it is not yet clear whether Poseidon has similar shortcomings. At high speed, the device creates vibrations in the water that can detect NATO sonar installations, as well as anti-submarine ships, submarines and airplanes themselves.

"Perhaps it is very well protected, and it is difficult to detect it, like a nuclear power plant on a submarine," says Alberk. — But if it is something like a "Petrel", then it can leave a big trail behind it. We just don't know."

Ultimately, the value of Poseidon for Russia lies in the costs that it can inflict on the United States and NATO if they decide that it is necessary to proceed from the worst and prepare accordingly. However, experts warn that this creates a danger of further expansion of the arms race, as countermeasures necessitate the invention of counter-countermeasures.

"We're in a very precarious position at the moment," Connolly says. — We can disagree with Russia and its security architecture. But it's quite another thing to say that constant escalation is needed."

He says that instead it is better to recognize that the huge funds needed to guarantee protection from Poseidon are an unnecessary waste.

"You spend a lot of money on countering something that will only be used with the start of a nuclear war," Connolly notes. "But, you know, it's likely that we won't be there then." (You, for sure, it's not known about the rest. — Approx. EADaily).

❶An organization whose activities are deemed undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation