Overview The Poseidon is intended to serve as response to
U.S. withdrawal from the
ABM treaty and to increase the Russian capability to overcome the U.S.
missile defense systems, such as
anti-ballistic missiles, etc. The Poseidon warhead can contaminate a large area with radiation. For this purpose, the Poseidon is speculated to be equipped with a
cobalt bomb. The Poseidon could be a
radiological second strike weapon. Water (and air) will not form radioisotopes suitable for radiological warfare when neutron activated, however the seawater-salt will, and the seabed may. If used against an
aircraft carrier battle group, the battle group would have reduced chances of defending itself against it. The drone could detonate its very large warhead at standoff range, and
anti-submarine warfare units would have very little time to react because of the speed at which it is speculated to travel
Specifications The Poseidon appears to be a torpedo-shaped robotic mini-submarine which can travel at speeds of . More recent information suggests a top speed of , with a range of and a depth maximum of . Typical depth of the drone may be about for increased stealth features in low-speed stealth mode. Low depth in stealth mode is preferred because sound waves move to ocean floor and reduce radius of detection. Submarines use the same strategy in
silent running mode. and they predicted low weight and compact
gas-cooled nuclear reactor in the drone. Russian submarine designers say that a low-power reactor is preferred for Poseidon because a smaller reactor is less noisy. Poseidon uses a
silent running strategy like other submarines. Its main stealth feature is its very low speed before it reaches the target area. Its high-speed mode activates upon reaching a short finish range (2–3 kilometers), when the probability of detection of the drone is considerably higher. It could travel for weeks toward enemy port cities, reaching high-speed only in the final stage. A second important stealth feature of the drone is the special design of the
pump-jet for clearance of the drone's
acoustic signature to imitate the noise of civil ships.
Supercavitation Poseidon is a family of drones, some of which are designed only for destroying coastal cities and thus rely on "stealth" capabilities rather than on high speed, However, supercavitation devices have not been observed on the available footage of Poseidon. The Pentagon estimates maximum speed of the Poseidon to be about without the supercavitation option.
Launch platforms The two ships speculated to carry the Poseidon are the Project 09852
modified Oscar-class submarine Belgorod and the Project 09851
Khabarovsk submarines.
Oscar-class submarines could carry six Poseidon torpedoes at the same time for a total yield of up to 12-600
megatons. According to some reports, Poseidon may have a seabed or mobile site launch option. In this configuration, known as
Skif (Скиф) and patented by designer Alexander Shalnev, Poseidon can be staged on the sea floor in a special container as long as necessary. Russian auxiliary vessels
Zvezdochka (Project 20180) and
Akademik Aleksandrov (Project 20183), both of which feature
ice-breaking capabilities, are involved in testing of Poseidon drones, indicating that these ships may be used as platforms for deploying and retrieving such a seabed version. ==Tsunami claims==