Doubts surrounding Russia’s super torpedo ‘Sea God’

Russia tests nuclear torpedo ‘God of the Sea’

Poseidon torpedo in the factory.

Super Poseidon torpedo (God of the sea) is one of five new generation `super weapons` announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin in early March 2018.

With a diameter of two meters, a length of 24 meters and a weight of about 100 tons, Poseidon is the largest torpedo in the world, three times the size of a heavy torpedo.

Russia also claims that Poseidon has unlimited range thanks to being equipped with a small nuclear engine.

When detonated in offshore waters, Poseidon is said to be able to create a large tsunami that destroys all buildings and houses on the enemy’s coast.

However, military expert David Hambling believes that Moscow has exaggerated Poseidon’s parameters and that some of its features are not highly practical.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the US military conducted research in this field and concluded that creating a tsunami with a nuclear explosion to devastate a target was not an effective weapon.

`Most of the energy of the wave created from a nuclear explosion will be eliminated when it hits the continental shelf, before it reaches the coast,` said WG Van Dorn, a scientist at the US Naval Research Laboratory.

Therefore, Poseidon’s true destructive power is still a big question mark, because Russia in the near future will likely not detonate such a nuclear weapon in real conditions to test its power.

The tail part of the Poseidon torpedo was announced by Russia at the end of 2018. Photo: Russian Ministry of Defense.

Poseidon’s speed also raises questions.

Submarine expert H.I. Sutton said that information about the Poseidon torpedo using Russian super-cavity technology is still not convincing.

`A torpedo using super-cavity technology will be very noisy, causing it to lose its main advantage, the ability to hide in the ocean. This weapon has no tactical significance,` said expert Justin Bronk at the Royal Military Institute.

This type of weapon first appeared in a report on a Russian state television channel, when the camera accidentally glanced at a top secret document containing drawings and detailed information about a new weapon system called `

However, the Pentagon confirmed the existence of Status-6, before the Russian Ministry of Defense held a name vote for this weapon and the name Poseidon was chosen.