Putin Says Russia Tests New, Nuclear-Capable Remote Torpedo Dubbed 'Doomsday Machine'

"Russia has tested a new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered long-range remote torpedo, President Vladimir Putin said, a weapon that some experts have dubbed a "doomsday machine." The October 29 announcement came days after Putin and Russia's top military officer announced what they said was a successful test of another new weapons system: a long-range, nuclear-powered cruise missile. Speaking in an informal setting at a Moscow hospital,"

""For the first time, we succeeded in not only launching it with an engine from a carrier submarine, but also to start the nuclear power unit on it," he said. "There is nothing like this." "There is a huge success," he added. There was no independent confirmation that such a test took place. However, Russia had hinted at the existence of such a weapon -- "an intercontinental nuclear-powered nuclear-armed autonomous torpedo" -- as far back as 2015."

"Western analysts have said that, if such a torpedo were deployed and actually detonated off the US East Coast, for example, it would shower radioactivity on major cities and render huge swaths of territory uninhabitable. Some experts have called it a "doomsday machine" because of the indiscriminate destruction it would wreak. The missile, which Putin and the chief of the general staff, General Valery Gerasimov, said had been tested on October 21,"

A nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered long-range remote torpedo identified as Status-6 or Poseidon was reportedly launched from a carrier submarine and its onboard nuclear power unit started. No independent confirmation of the torpedo test has been reported. Development of an intercontinental nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed autonomous torpedo has been signaled since 2015. Analysts warn that detonation of such a torpedo near populated coastlines could shower radioactivity over cities and make large areas uninhabitable, leading some to label it a "doomsday machine." A separate nuclear-powered cruise missile, Burevestnik (NATO: Skyfall), was also reported tested and is designed for extended flight.

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