Russia is building a “doomsday” nuclear torpedo
A new report released by the US Department of Defense shows that Russia appears to be building a powerful nuclear-tipped torpedo that the US calls a “doomsday weapon”.
The image is said by the US to be the Status-6 torpedo that Russia is building. Photo: Youtube
According toNewsweek, information about Russia's new torpedo was mentioned by the US in the Pentagon's "Nuclear Posture Review" (NPR) report released on February 2. Russia's new weapon, called Status-6, is described as a "nuclear-tipped, self-guided intercontinental torpedo" and can be launched from submarines.
According to the US, this type of torpedo can travel thousands of kilometers underwater without being detected before exploding to attack the target. The report stated that this weapon, if completed, would be more powerful than any weapon currently in the military arsenal of Russia and the US.
In 2015, information about the existence of the torpedo seemed to be revealed when Russian television broadcast images of President Vladimir Putin inspecting the naval base in Sochi. The US claimed to have seen an official looking at the plan to build this type of torpedo.
Military expert Pavel Podvig is skeptical about the existence of this weapon. Mr. Podvig believes that this image was deliberately provided by Russia to send a message to the US. Meanwhile, another observer, Mr. Adam Mount, toldCNNthat there is no evidence that Russia is developing a new torpedo and he was quite troubled when the weapon appeared in the NPR report.
The Pentagon has been reviewing the US strategic nuclear arsenal since Donald Trump took office a year ago. The White House leader has made no secret of his ambition to expand Washington's nuclear arsenal.
The NPR report also warns of the threat posed by Russia’s nuclear arsenal to the United States. “Russia appears to view the United States and its NATO military alliance as the primary threat to Moscow’s geopolitical ambitions. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency estimates that Russia has 2,000 “non-strategic” nuclear weapons, including short-range ballistic missiles, gravity bombs, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles,” the report says.
