Russia’s Mysterious New Nuclear Torpedo: What We Know | WSJ Equipped

- This dark, grainy footage shows Russia testing its new

nuclear

torpedo

, Poseidon. The massive

torpedo

has been in the works for at least a decade. Once completed, experts say Poseidon can help Russia target coastal cities and military bases in the United States and other NATO countries. - The objective is to demonstrate very clearly that they continue to be a first-class

nuclear

power. - But since Vladimir Putin announced the weapon, it has been shrouded in mystery and misinformation. (soft techno music) (hissing logo) - Nuclear weapons technology, for the most part, is not new technology. - Traditionally, nuclear weapons are delivered using gravity bombs or ballistic missiles.

But in 2018, Putin revealed plans for nuclear weapons that would be delivered in modern systems. Among them was Poseidon. As shown in this clip from the Russian Defense Ministry, Poseidon will be

equipped

on submarines similar to some ballistic missiles in Russia's current nuclear arsenal. But

what

will happen after its launch is debated. And the answer depends on

know

ing

what

Poseidon really is. - Poseidon has been called many things. - Russia calls it an unmanned underwater vehicle or drone. It portrays Poseidon as capable of avoiding obstacles and enemy countermeasures, reaching great depths and high speeds. In the Pentagon's 2018 nuclear posture, the weapon is referred to as an autonomous torpedo capable of operating independently after launch.

But one nuclear researcher says it's more likely that Poseidon has some kind of advanced homing and guidance system, which would allow it to avoid some countermeasures, but would not allow for complex maneuverability. Putin has said that Poseidon will have dual capabilities. That is, it can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. - One of the many things we don't

know

about Poseidon is the performance of the warhead he carries. - The largest nuclear bomb in the United States arsenal is the B83 with 1.2 megatons. Although initial Russian media reports indicated that Poseidon's nuclear warhead could be up to 100 megatons, more recently, Russian media reported that the warhead would be two megatons. -There is no obvious strategic reason why a hundred megaton warhead would be needed. - Even then, the explosive yield of a two-megaton warhead is approximately 95 times that of the bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki, and 133 times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. - This is much greater in terms of the scale, destruction and devastation that this weapon could create. - But since Poseidon is intended to detonate underwater, its exact impact is unknown. - Some Russians have suggested that this could create a tsunami with waves of 10,000 feet or something similar.

There are conflicting reports that this is not how tsunamis work and that they would not actually have that effect. But that discussion about the tsunami effect really feeds into the Russian narrative that these weapons are high-yield and that they have these catastrophic effects, because that is intended as a long-term deterrent. - Russia says Poseidon is designed to bypass all missile defense systems like the United States'. - Today there is no defense system in the world that can deal with underground vehicles. - But experts say the US Missile Defense System was not designed to stop an attack from Russia's existing arsenal. - So when Russia claims that it is developing these systems because of Western missile defense, it is either being much more optimistic about the missile defense capabilities the United States can develop or it is being disingenuous. - A Congressional report said: "Russia views Poseidon as a second-strike weapon, but its potential capabilities led some analysts to believe it could function as a first-strike weapon." - Russia has very specifically said that it is willing to use nuclear weapons first if NATO countries attack Russia directly.

And so this would potentially give Russian leaders a choice on how to do it. - Although Russia began building Poseidon before invading Ukraine, defense analysts say it has used the weapons system to project power at a time when its conventional forces are weakened. A strategy imposed on Moscow by its history. When the Soviet Union collapsed, its conventional forces were greatly weakened. - And it was around this time that Russia changed its nuclear doctrine. They felt they had to increase reliance on nuclear weapons and consider scenarios in which they would have to use nuclear weapons first to compensate for that conventional inferiority.

That still applies today. What Putin perhaps fears most militarily is NATO's conventional superiority. - The Federation of American Scientists says: "Russia is building storage facilities for warheads and submarines that will carry Poseidon torpedoes." And in a recent speech, Putin said: "The tests of Poseidon are being completed." Although it is not clear what stage of testing the weapon is in. So the question remains: "Will it work?" - It is fair to say that what the Russians pronounce about their weapons capabilities and what they can actually do rarely intersect. They want everyone to think about the possibility of a nuclear war, a ruinous arms race, and that is why they are exaggerating their capabilities. - Russia has faced setbacks with some of its new weapons systems in recent years.

And in 2022, Russia abandoned a planned Poseidon test without saying why. - Russia continues to face several challenges. Resources are one of them. The second is that its technology does not match that available in the West. Sanctions imposed on Russia due to the Ukraine war have limited its ability to acquire some of these components. - Although Poseidon's future is uncertain, experts say one thing is certain. - With the end of the Cold War, the wobble of nuclear weapons left the public consciousness. Putin has recovered nuclear weapons. Poseidon is just one example of that, but it's really important to differentiate between reality and the façade that Putin tries to portray. (somber techno music) (hissing logo)