Russia Readying Its Underwater Nuclear Drone

TASS reported yesterday that the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk has delivered the nuclear submarine Belgorod to the Russian Navy. The Belgorod is the first of a class of submarines designed to carry the Poseidon nuclear powered/nuclear armed drone torpedo. The TASS wire, however, does not stress this point beyond mentioning it. Instead, it notes other capabilities that have been designed into the Belgorod, including “diverse” research tasks, and deep water search and rescue. “The submarine Belgorod opens new opportunities for Russia in holding various researches and helps carry out diverse scientific expeditions and rescue operations in remote areas of the World Ocean,” said Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Nikolay Yevmenov.