There are submarines designed to launch missiles, others to pursue those of their adversaries, and some intended for special missions. The Khabarovsk belongs to an even more unique category: it is the first Russian submarine built specifically to transport the Poseidon autonomous underwater vehicles, a strategic system designed to carry a nuclear payload over long distances under the ocean. The new submarine has just taken a decisive step towards abandon the Severodvinsk shipyard, in northern Russia, to begin its first navigation tests in the White Sea, in the Barents Sea. The campaign will allow checking the behavior of the ship and its systems before its eventual entry into service.
The Khabarovsk belongs to Project 09851 and its construction began in 2014 at the Sevmash shipyards. Although the submarine was launched in November 2025, it has not started sailing until now. Its design is particularly striking because it is not simply a matter of adapting an existing submarine to carry a new weapon: The platform has been conceived from the beginning around the mission of deploying Poseidon.
What exactly is Poseidon? Although it is often described as a “nuclear torpedo,” that designation can be misleading. It is a Large, nuclear-powered autonomous underwater vehicle that can carry a nuclear warhead. Unlike a conventional torpedo, it does not need to be permanently attached to its launching submarine or necessarily follow a predetermined trajectory. Its concept belongs more to that of a strategic underwater drone than to that of a traditional anti-submarine weapon.
Russia publicly presented the Poseidon project in 2018, within a new generation of strategic systems designed to make interception by existing defenses difficult. Its fundamental characteristic It is precisely that the vehicle moves underwater, an environment very different from that of ballistic missiles. which constitute an essential part of traditional nuclear arsenals.
The Khabarovsk will be, according to available information, the second Russian submarine capable of transporting these vehicles. The first is the Belgorod, a massive nuclear-powered submarine built from an earlier design and modified specifically for special missions. The Khabarovsk, on the other hand, belongs to a new class conceived from its origin around Poseidon. The available estimates suggest that It will be able to carry up to six of these vehicles, although some details of its configuration remain unofficially confirmed.
This design difference is important. A conventional strategic submarine can be used as a platform for different weapons systems, while the Khabarovsk is much more specialized. Its objective is to provide Russia with a platform capable of approaching and deploying these autonomous vehicles. without depending on the routes and flight profiles of strategic missiles.
The nuclear propulsion of the submarine itself also plays a fundamental role. Like other nuclear submarines, a reactor allows you to remain submerged for long periods without needing to periodically return to the surface to obtain oxygen or fuel. That autonomy is one of the reasons why submarines are one of the most difficult to locate components of a nuclear force.
However, it is advisable to separate what is known from what still belongs to the realm of estimates. Russia has not published all the technical data of the Khabarovsk and some of the figures circulating about its speed, displacement, operating depth or acoustic characteristics come from open source analysis. Even the exact role it will play within the Russian naval structure will depend on the tests that have just begun.
Its arrival at sea has, therefore, an importance that goes beyond the launching of another nuclear submarine. Khabarovsk represents the attempt to develop a specialized underwater strategic platformdesigned to deploy a weapon that changes the traditional scenario of nuclear deterrence: instead of transporting the threat through the air, it carries it across an ocean.
The concept also raises huge questions. The actual effectiveness of Poseidon, its ability to operate as advertised, and the difficulty of detecting and intercepting it are issues that cannot yet be assessed. completely with publicly available information. Western experts have also warned that some of Moscow’s claims about its capabilities may be exaggerated.
The tests that are now beginning will, therefore, be especially relevant. Before becoming an operational component of the Russian Navy, Khabarovsk will have to demonstrate that it can navigate, operate and meet the demands of a strategic submarine platform.. It is expected that, once the process is completed, the submarine will join the Pacific Fleet.
Thus, Khabarovsk does not in itself inaugurate a new era of submarine warfare, but it does show where a part of Russian military technology is heading: making strategic weapons capable of hiding not only under the ocean, but also within it. AND This difference makes the new submarine one of the most unique naval platforms that have begun to be tested in recent years.