On April 23, 2019, a hulking submarine called the K-139 Belgorod was christened and released from Severodvinsk, Russia. It moved from Sevmash Shipyard into the Nikolskoye estuary off the White Sea. First put down in 1992, the Belgorod is the world’s longest submarine, exceeding Russia’s Typhoon-class nuclear-missile sub and the United States Navy’s Ohio class. Its building and construction was stopped briefly for over a years in 2000 after the catastrophe aboard its instant predecessor, the Kursk— in which all the team was lost after a surge throughout rocket tests. However Belgorod was reanimated with its style customized for a brand-new function: bring the Poseidon nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed torpedo “drone.”

The Belgorod is an adjustment of the Soviet Navy’s Job 949 A style program– what Western military experts have actually called the Oscar II class. Initially meant to be a cruise-missile submarine, the Belgorod was re-designated as Unique Job 09852, a “ special-purpose research study and rescue submarine,” in December2012 The style was extended to include a docking compartment for crewed and uncrewed little submersible cars, such as submarine rescue cars. It was likewise obviously meant to do cable-laying operations and assessments, releases of undersea devices, and other jobs comparable to those the United States Navy built the USS Jimmy Carter for.

The submarine-rescue function was plainly at the front of the mind of the Russian Navy in the years after the Kursk fiasco, in which Russia at first declined help from the UK and Norway. The occurrence was a significant shame to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who– simply 4 months into his presidency– was on holiday in Sochi at the time of the mishap and stayed there for 5 days later.

However the docking bay handled a brand-new function as Putin promoted advancement of brand-new nuclear weapons to counter a viewed tactical danger from United States anti-ballistic rocket releases. That function was very first meant when styles for a nuclear-powered, uncrewed nuclear-weapons shipment car were exposed on Russian tv in2015 The Belgorod was among 2 submarines displayed in a slide exposed in a report on an instruction of Putin by military chiefs. Then called “Ocean Multipurpose System ‘Status-6,'” the weapon would be formally revealed by Putin in March 2018.

With an “global” series of 10,000 kilometers (more than 6,200 miles) at a leading speed of 100 kilometers per hour (60 miles per hour or 54 knots), the weapon now called Poseidon is supposedly efficient in bring a warhead with a yield of a minimum of 10 megatons. That number might perhaps be as excellent as 100, though the payload might differ depending upon the kind of objective.

Based upon the initial dripped illustration and analysis of pictures of tests released by the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Poseidon car determines about 24 meters (simply under 80 feet) long and 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) in size. The warhead displayed in the dripped diagram recommends the warhead is 4 meters (13 feet) long and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in size– constant with a big atomic gadget. The Belgorod will have the ability to bring 4 Poseidons and introduce them from positions that were utilized on previous Oscar-class subs for cruise rockets.

A Russian Ministry of Defense video of the test launch of a Poseidon nuclear-powered torpedo.

Ministry of Defense video of land screening of the Poseidon.

The Poseidon isn’t the only unique task that the Belgorod will play a part in. Part of the sub’s objective will likely be the implementation of Consistency, a submarine detection sensing unit network the Russian armed force is looking for to release in the Arctic– comparable to the United States Navy’s SOSUS finder network. The Belgorod will have the ability to shuttle sensing units out under the ice and release mini-subs to put the sensing units, powered by undersea nuclear power systems, in location.

Joseph Trevithick and Tyler Rogoway of The Warzone have gathered a relatively extensive analysis of images from the Belgorod‘s April 23 launch released by the Ministry of Defense, Russian media outlets, and Russian marine blog writer and TASS factor Oleg Kuleshov. While the images are restricted– much of the Belgorod was concealed from view throughout the event– they reveal a few of the uncommon distinctions in between this brand-new undersea monster and its predecessors in the Oscar II class.

Like earlier Oscars, Belgorod has twin props, however it likewise has an odd squared-off bulge in its stern that mean the lodgings produced a docking bay. There is likewise an obvious distinction in the rudders of the Belgorod As the International Institute for Strategic Research studies’ defense expert Joseph Dempsey kept in mind in a post, the starboard (right) lower rudder’s frame has what may be some sort of pulling devices incorporated into it.

This might be equipment meant to feed out cable television utilized for undersea cable television laying or for some sort of towed hardware. Cable-laying appears most likely; its position puts it well listed below the sub’s turning screws. However it would still be a dicey location to release a towed variety when steering– and there’s currently a tube for releasing a towed finder on the top of the sub’s center (upper) rudder, similar to other Oscar subs.

A few of the information on the sub found by expert H.I. Sutton recommend that the Belgorod might have other methods of pressing itself around for tight maneuvering. Some hatches on the exposed stern, Sutton presumed, were most likely for steering jet thrusters. These would be utilized to turn the sub securely or keep it in location throughout accuracy operations.

Since the staying 2 incomplete Job 949 A submarines were mostly removed for parts, the Belgorod will stay a distinctive vessel. However it’s possible that other Oscar-class submarines might be retrofitted to bring the Poseidon.

Noting image by Oleg Kuleshov/TASS through Getty Images