Following the announcement of the successful test of the first nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestniklast week, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putinhas spoken again about another of the six ‘superweapons’ which he officially presented in a speech in 2018. Now it is the turn of the nuclear torpedo Poseidon.
Putin stated, during a visit to a hospital and in the presence of soldiers wounded in the Ukrainian war, that Russia had ‘tested successfully’ the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle and described a launch from a carrier submarine followed by the activation of its nuclear reactor. He added that the ‘power’ of Poseidon exceeds that of the intercontinental missile Sarmat and assured that there are no ‘means of interception’.
The full statement, which is recorded in a video published by the Russian state agency TASS, was: ‘You should know that yesterday we carried out another test of another promising system: the Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle with a nuclear power unit. For the first time we managed not only to launch it with a launch engine from a carrier submarine, but also to start up the nuclear power unit with which this vehicle remained operational for a certain time. This is a huge success. Poseidon’s power significantly exceeds even that of our promising Sarmat intercontinental missile. There is nothing like Sarmat in the world. We don’t have it in service yet, but it will be soon. But Poseidon is far above Sarmat in power.. Furthermore, regarding speed and depth to which this unmanned vehicle can operate, there is nothing comparable in the world; something similar is unlikely to appear in the near future, and there are no means of interception.’
During his meeting with wounded Russian servicemen on Wednesday, Russian President Putin announced that on October 28, 2025, Russia conducted a successful test of the Poseidon/Status-6 nuclear-powered unmanned underwater vehicle. pic.twitter.com/BQO61J8HGT
— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) October 29, 2025
It should be noted that there is no independent verification that confirms Putin’s words. nor has Moscow published data to support them. In fact, although there is news of its existence since 2015very little is known about Poseidon beyond what Russian media has published, with sometimes contradictory statements.
A new kind of weapon
Like the Burevestnik, the Poseidon is a new kind of weapon with particularities so as not to fit into any of the known categories. Its capabilities are found halfway between a torpedo and an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV), which is how Putin refers to it. When a Russian television camera caught a dossier in which he appeared a decade ago during a meeting between Putin and representatives of the defense industry, he was described as a ‘autonomous underwater vehicle’.
According to Russian media, each Poseidon measures about 20 metershas a diameter of 1.8 meters and weighs 110 tons. Its reach is estimated at 10,000 kilometersbut it also has nuclear propulsion that would allow it to navigate the oceans for long periods of time before initiating an attack, the same as has been said about the Burevestnik, in this case flying. It could operate up to 1,000 meters deep using a reactor cooled by liquid metal that would push it at a speed of 100 knots -equivalent to 185km/hfar above conventional torpedoes – and carry a nuclear warhead.
Regarding its power, it has been said that it would reach 100 megatonsbut there has also been talk of 2an estimate that Western analysts consider much more realistic.
Can Poseidon generate a radioactive tsunami?
It has also been published in Russia that its detonation could generate a kind of radioactive tsunami capable of devastating extensive coastal areasa claim that has been met with skepticism. According to the defense media Army Recognition, although an underwater nuclear explosion produces a devastating wave of base and lasting contamination, as happened in 1946 with the test Baker made on the atoll Bikini With a detonation of 23 kilotons, it does not generate transoceanic tsunamis with waves the height of a skyscraper. This is because bathymetry – relief of the seabed – and energy dispersion limit the formation of waves at great distances from the detonation.
However, this does not mean that an explosion near the coast could not devastate a port and irradiate the area. In fact, this would be its main function: to attack coastal installations with little or no warning, since current defense systems are not designed for this type of weapon.
Since 2019, different tests have been known around the Poseidon, some with models, the most recent being the first in which its nuclear reactor would have been used. TASS reported in 2023 that ‘the first batch of Poseidon ammunition has been manufactured’ and it would be delivered ‘soon’.
Despite this and the evidence now known, Putin’s statement does not mean that the UUV has entered an operational phasebut progress in the integration of the nuclear reactor. The Poseidon is limited by the ships that can fire it: submarines K-329 Belgorod (Project 09852)of which there is only one in service, and Project 09851 Khabarovskwhich still isn’t.
Furthermore, even if the test went as Putin said, Russia’s current conditions, with its resources funneled into the war in Ukraine and being subject to sanctions, make it unlikely that it will be able to complete development and equip any of them with the Poseidon torpedoes any time soon. Putin’s announcement, which followed that of the Burevestnik and the annual exercise of its strategic nuclear forces, seems more an example of political pressure towards the West that an imminent reality, in the opinion of many analysts.