EDITOR'S NOTE: The Belgorod, a Russian nuclear-powered submarine, just deployed from its Arctic home base. What makes this sub unique is that it carries one of Russia’s latest “super weapons” called the Poseidon. It’s essentially a drone that carries a nuclear weapon. It’s designed to detonate off the coast of a target city, creating a 1,600-ft radioactive tsunami. Where or when this weapon-of-last resort might be activated is anyone’s guess. Though analysts believe it will be used "in the event that Russia and the U.S. are in a direct kinetic war and Russia is losing." Well, Russia doesn’t appear to be anywhere near victory, and Putin is finding himself backed against a corner even on the domestic front. Meanwhile, the US deployed its largest and most advanced warship to the Atlantic.
Putin's Belgorod submarine is said to be capable of creating a 1,600-ft 'radioactive tsunami'.
A top-of-the-line Russian nuclear-powered submarine has gone missing from its harbor in the Arctic along with its rumored "doomsday weapon," according to multiple reports.
NATO has reportedly warned members that Russia's Belgorod submarine no longer appeared to be operating out of its White Sea base, where it has been active since July. Officials warned that Russia may plan to test Belgorod's "Poseidon" weapons system, a drone equipped with a nuclear bomb that Russia has claimed is capable of creating a "radioactive tsunami," according to Italian media.
The drone can be deployed from the submarine at any time and detonated at a depth of 1 kilometer near a coastal city. Russian state media has claimed the device can create a 1,600-ft. wave that smashes into the coast and irradiates it.
The 600-ft. submarine was delivered to the Russian Navy in July as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top-secret program that aims to develop and operate a series of a new class of "super weapons."
Rebekah Koffler, a strategic intelligence expert and author of "Putin’s Playbook," warned that Russia's use of such a weapon would only come as a last resort "in the event that Russia and the U.S. are in a direct kinetic war and Russia is losing."
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Koffler said the device is likely not to be operational until 2027, but Putin may be testing it as a means to intimidate both Ukraine its NATO allies in the West. Putin has warned that Russia's potential use of nuclear weapons is "not a bluff."
Belgorod's location remains publicly unknown as of Monday, a situation that is not particularly surprising to Koffler. Russian submarines have some of the best stealth capabilities in the world and have even entered U.S. waters undetected in the past, according to Koffler.
"There have been times when Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines, armed with long-range cruise missiles, operated undetected for weeks close to U.S. shores," Koffler told Fox News Digital.
One incident in the early 2010s saw a submarine get detected only when it was leaving U.S. waters.
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"My colleagues from the Office of Naval Intelligence got a serious dressing down by a four-star general" following the event, Koffler said.
Originally published on Fox Business.
