Moscow has repeatedly criticized the establishing of a U.S. “Poseidon is meant to further strengthen the already existing second-strike capability, providing Russia additional options to inflict “unacceptable” damage on the enemy,” Zysk said. Deep sea deterrenceįrom a Russian military prospective, today’s deterrence may not appear sufficiently credible, said Katarzyna Zysk, professor and deputy director of the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies. If slowing to a quieter stealth mode to sail undetected, time from launch to target will be longer. From the North Atlantic or Barents Sea, with a speed of about 100 knots, the drone will use more than 48 hours. Its travel time from launch, though, can be days, maybe a week. If detonated outside the east coast of the United States, the following radioactive contaminated tsunami-wave will cause severe consequences. That is room enough for a huge megatons weapon. Little is known about the inside technology, but a previously leaked video of the Poseidon indicates a diameter of nearly 2 meters, with the warhead inside being 1,5 diameter wide and 4 meters long cylinder. Screenshot from video by Russian Ministry of Defense The reactor powers a jet-pump, giving the drone stealth-like capability for travel across world oceans without having to worry too much about range-limitations. It is powered by a small nuclear reactor, likely gas-cooled, to keep its noise to a minimum. Unlike ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, like the Bulava, the 24 meters long Poseidon drone needs a hole new level of maintenance and readiness preparations.

If this is the new Poseidon base, it clearly indicate the level of risk Russian military commanders are willing to take, as the distance across the waters to nearby Severomorsk with about 70,000 inhabitants is only 1,5 kilometers. Okolnaya Bay is the Northern Fleet’s largest ammunition storage, a well-known location for naval cruise-missiles and ballistic missiles (SLBMs) for the growing fleet of modern surface warship and submarines. The work on the new buildings, aimed for what could be the Poseidons, started in 2018 or 2019. Here, a new huge 58 meters long and 16 meters wide multy-storey warehouse or workshop, along with other port-side facilities, are clearly visible in connection with the new quay for loading Bulava ballistic missiles at Okolnaya Bay.īuilding of the quay itself, with the crane for Bulava-missiles to the Borei-class submarines, took place in the period from 2012-2018. Latest updates of Google Earth images are from the summer of 2020. The Barents Observer has over years studied satellite images of the Northern Fleet’s bases, and weapons storage facilities, along the coast of the Kola Peninsula. Construction of the base to serve the most terrifying weapon mankind ever has seen is well underway.

Russian submarine bases