Russia Considers Developing Super-Powerful Nuclear Torpedo
21:45 25.06.2018(updated 21:50 25.06.2018)
With global tensions running high, the Russian military has considered reviving a decades-old weapon project envisioned by the architect of a Soviet thermonuclear weapon project capable of creating man-made tsunamis and wreaking havoc on coastal regions.
Russian researchers and military engineers are entertaining the idea of creating a gigantic thermonuclear submarine torpedo envisioned in the 1950s by Soviet nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov, Shamil Aliev, one of the country's top torpedo designers, told Sputnik.
"There is a general tendency of reviewing the ideas that weren't implemented before. … Sakharov's ideas about making 24-meter-long nuclear-tipped torpedoes with a 1.5-meter diameter and 50-kilometer range are being reviewed," he said.
Aliev was referring to a project known as T-15, which involved creating a 40-ton torpedo carrying a 100-megaton thermonuclear warhead.
As the scientist explained, the purpose of this weapon was to "destroy coastal targets via aquatic explosion," with a tsunami produced by the blast essentially doing all the work.
Earlier in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin also confirmed the existence of a new sub-launched nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle developed for the Russian Navy called Status-6 Poseidon.
The weapon was described by Pentagon officials as a "major strategic threat" to US ports, coastal military installations and carrier groups.
© Sputnik
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