Russia to deploy 32 underwater nuclear drones, defence source says



Moscow is set to deploy more than 30 underwater drones capable of carrying a two megaton nuclear warhead, which could obliterate Western ports, according to Russian state media.
Four submarines fitted with the torpedo drones, named Poseidon, will join the Northern and Pacific Russian fleets, state news agency Tass reports.
Each submarine can fit eight Poseidons, designed specifically to destroy 'enemy navy bases' and able to travel at up to 70 knots.

'Two Poseidon-carrying submarines are expected to enter service with the Northern Fleet and the other two will join the Pacific Fleet,' a defence industry source told Tass this week.
'Each of the submarines will carry a maximum of eight drones and, therefore, the total number of Poseidons on combat duty may reach 32 vehicles.' 

A 'special-purpose nuclear-powered submarine' currently under construction at the Sevmash Shipyard in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia's White Sea, will be one of the Poseidon carriers, Tass said.  
Last year, Russian state media claimed the Navy will be able to 'mount various nuclear charges on the 'torpedo' of the Poseidon multipurpose seaborne system, with the thermonuclear single warhead to have the maximum capacity of up to two megatonnes in TNT equivalent.'

With its nuclear charge, the Poseidon drone 'is primarily designed to destroy reinforced naval bases of a potential enemy,' the report added. 
The development of the Poseidon was announced by President Vladimir Putin in his state-of-the-nation speech in March last year, in which he boasted of an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception'.
Speaking last month, Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would deploy its first regiment of hypersonic nuclear-capable missiles this year, saying the move meant his country now had a new type of strategic weapon. 
Despite the continuous announcement of developments in its nuclear weapons arsenal, the Kremlin said in 2018 that it will cut its defence budget to less than three per cent of gross domestic product within the next five years.