- Russia plans to have infrastructure available to base submarines that will carry Poseidon nuclear-capable “super torpedoes” in the Pacific Ocean.
- The torpedoes are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod and Khabarovsk nuclear submarines.
- Russia Pacific Fleet’s ballistic nuclear missile submarine base is located on the south eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East.
- The new special-purpose submarines will participate in solving the tasks “of strategic deterrence.”
- Putin said that Moscow is not creating a military alliance with Beijing, but both he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged closer ties, including in the military sphere.
Russia plans to have infrastructure available to base submarines that will carry Poseidon nuclear-capable “super torpedoes” in the Pacific Ocean by early 2024, a Russian news agency reported. Moscow said in January that it had produced the first set of the Poseidon torpedoes, four years after Vladimir Putin announced the new type of strategic nuclear weapon, confirming it would have its own power supply.
There are few confirmed details about the Poseidon in the public domain, but it is essentially a cross between a torpedo and a drone which can be launched from a nuclear submarine. The torpedoes are being developed for deployment on the Belgorod and Khabarovsk nuclear submarines, the agency reported. “Work on the construction of coastal infrastructure facilities for basing two special submarines in Kamchatka is planned to be completed early next year,” an unidentified defence source was cited as saying.
Russia Pacific Fleet’s ballistic nuclear missile submarine base is located on the south eastern coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Russian Far East. The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the Kamchatka Peninsula’s eastern and western coastlines. The source allegedly told the agency that a new division is being formed as part of the Submarine Forces of the Pacific Fleet, which will include not only Belgorod and Khabarovsk but also other submarines.
The new special-purpose submarines will participate in solving the tasks “of strategic deterrence”, the source said. Russia’s major upgrade of the nuclear base comes amid rising U.S.-China tensions over influence in the Western Pacific.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is not creating a military alliance with Beijing, but both he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged closer ties, including in the military sphere, during their meeting last week.
