Has Russia confirmed its status? Has Russia confirmed its status New nuclear torpedo status 6

Oceanic multi-purpose system "Status-6" (new retaliation weapon) Pentagon sources confirmed the fact that Russia is testing a new type of weapon - a giant torpedo with a thermonuclear warhead of terrifying power, known as "Status-6", writes Popular Mechanics. "This is very bad news," the US military said. According to US intelligence, the tests took place on November 27. The torpedo was fired from a submarine. special purpose B-90 "Sarov", details unknown. The author of a material published in The Washington Free Beacon on this subject calls the Russian submersible revolutionary: a nuclear-powered torpedo capable of moving at a speed of 90 knots at a depth of up to a kilometer. The range of the "Status" is 10 thousand kilometers, the size of the warhead is 6.5 meters. There, according to the Americans, a thermonuclear charge with a capacity of up to 100 megatons can be placed. Exploded off the coast of the United States, it will cause a giant tsunami that will wipe out coastal states along with naval bases, airfields and military factories. According to experts, "Status-6" is Russia's new asymmetric response to the US deployment of a global system missile defense. For the first time, the creation of a giant torpedo became known a year ago, when a tablet with a description of a new weapon hit the lenses of television cameras at a government meeting on military issues. In the Kremlin "flare" classified information called "coincidence". However, a number of political scientists consider it a deliberate "leak" and misinformation: according to the deadlines indicated in the tablet, it was planned to create the "Tsar Torpedo" in 2019. Special-purpose submarines will be used as the carrier of the "Status" - in addition to the "Sarov" these are the "Belgorod" of the project 09852 "Antey" and the "Khabarovsk" of the project 09851, which are under modernization. the burden cannot be detected either from land or from a satellite. The description of the system says that it is also designed to inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the enemy by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination on the coast, unsuitable for human life for a long time. This description fits the cobalt bomb - a thermonuclear weapon described by one of the creators of the American atomic weapons Leo Szilard. The outer shell of such ammunition consists of cobalt-59, and its explosion guarantees the destruction of all life.

Tests of a cobalt bomb have never been carried out due to the unsuitability of the affected territories for development and the risk of destroying the entire biosphere of the Earth - according to calculations, this will require only 510 tons of cobalt. However, such a bomb giant torpedo as a means of delivery, they can be used as a deterrent weapon - together with the Perimeter system on combat duty, which guarantees a retaliatory strike with the entire might of Russia's nuclear forces even if the command posts and personnel of the Strategic Missile Forces are destroyed.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Peskov commented on the footage of the secret Status-6 system on TV. “Indeed, there some secret data got into the camera lens, so they were subsequently deleted,” Peskov said about the news from a number of Russian TV channels about a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on defense topics. Putin's spokesman said he was not aware of any organ measures in connection with the incident. “But in the future, we will certainly take preventive measures so that this does not happen again,” he promised. On November 9, Channel One and NTV showed footage showing materials about the Status-6 ocean multi-purpose concept. Bloggers later drew attention to them. From the materials captured by television cameras, it can be seen that the new system is designed to hit important objects of the enemy's economy in the coastal area and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country's territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination.

The "collateral damage" from the investigation of Russia's actions is becoming more and more evident. Russia tried to split the legislative and executive branches of the United States, undermine institutional norms, sow distrust in law enforcement and intelligence agencies in matters of regional crises, for example, in Syria, where the situation is increasingly out of control. This investigation brought the American foreign and internal politics to the point of crisis. But behind all these troubles, which mostly help newspapers increase their circulation and cable TV's ratings, lies a deeper and more serious threat: an accelerating nuclear arms race between Moscow and Washington.

Even in the rather calm and cloudless 1990s, the Kremlin always had its finger on the nuclear button. This was partly due to the weakness of its non-nuclear forces, but on the other hand, it was a reaction to NATO's awakened interest in conducting operations outside its area of ​​​​responsibility. The successive waves of NATO expansion that began in 1999 predictably led to a significant increase in strategic tensions, and missile defense programs further exacerbated an already explosive situation. Thus, when the Obama administration began talking about a "reset" in Russian-American relations, the Kremlin had already embarked on a massive modernization of its nuclear forces. But this dam was finally broken by the Ukrainian crisis that began in the spring of 2014. The cold war is back new force, while the investigation of Russia's actions continues, entering a new phase, and it keeps Washington in a stranglehold and has an extremely negative impact on Russian-American relations. Numerous anti-Russian hawks on Capitol Hill and in Washington today are shouting louder and more piercingly from the left than from the right. And the result of this militant nonsense can be considered the appearance in Russia of a truly frightening naval nuclear weapon called "Status-6".

This megaton-class nuclear weapon, as one Russian source calls it, is delivered to its target by an unmanned submarine, and it is capable of destroying a large part of the US population in one apocalyptic strike on the American east coast. This source explains: “The main task of the Status-6 unmanned underwater vehicle is to destroy important coastal elements of the enemy’s economy and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating vast zones of radioactive contamination unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones. for a long time." In addition, this source explains that this device is capable of destroying naval bases, aircraft carrier strike groups, ground air bases. The Bear Cave edition is hosting brief analysis what Russian commentators say about Status 6.

Context

What is the Russian “Status-6” capable of?

A new nuclear race between Russia and the US?

How America Can Accidentally Push Russia into Nuclear War

A few more details should be noted, which are given by a source associated with the military-industrial complex. Status-6 is powered by a liquid-metal coolant reactor and has a cruising speed of 55 kilometers per hour. But it is possible that he can develop a sprint speed of up to 100-185 kilometers per hour, which will allow him to get away from all known torpedoes that are in service with a potential enemy. This device has an operating depth of 1,000 meters, its length is 26 meters, and its width is 1.6 meters. The words of this source are confirmed by the assessment of American intelligence, which reports a successful test launch of a nuclear torpedo on November 27, 2016 from the Sarov submarine. Obviously, the development of this project is carried out by the Rubin design bureau, which specializes in marine engineering. "Status-6" is called "a deterrent weapon with a 100% working guarantee."

Reflecting on Brian Clark's comments in the above article, another Russian source said in January 2018: "Unfortunately for those who dream of destroying America with a giant tsunami, the Status 6 project is not as scary as it is painted." the Russian analyst is less frivolous in his remarks, noting that Status-6 is not only an “asymmetric response” to the deployment of missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe, but also a reaction to "the deployment of NATO battalions in Poland and the Baltic states, as well as to other aggressive actions of Washington against Russia." Participants of the discussion point out that for the first time this project was developed at the beginning of the Cold War, but due to technical difficulties, it was not possible to fully implement it. But “half a century later, the problem with the reactor was solved,” and now this project is quite feasible.

In December 2017, an article was published under the heading "The United States is preparing a response to the Russian nuclear torpedo." It says that the rather new ultra-large underwater drone (XLUUV) "Orca" (Orca) is a system capable of "arranging a local nuclear apocalypse." The author of the article acknowledges that the stated purpose of this American program is reconnaissance, search and destruction of mines, as well as the delivery of goods. However, he notes that Russian specialists doubt the veracity of such claims. Apparently, they believe that the development of the Killer Whale was activated after the Americans learned about Russia's program to build the Status-6 submersible. Thus, the American system "may affect the strategic balance of power between Russia and NATO."

Such a view may make Russian strategists think that it is pointless to accelerate the arms race again. At least one of the aforementioned Russian analytical articles speaks of this sad reality: “There is no point in such a weapon. Therefore, we will continue to scare the Americans with Soviet skeletons, and they will pretend that they were afraid. The main thing: ... funding has been allocated.

Naturally, there are many individuals and groups in both countries who could benefit from a new Cold War. Military-industrial complex, to which President Eisenhower first drew attention in his farewell speech in January 1961, he probably noticed that countering Russia (and China) brings a much larger (and stable) profit than the fight against terrorism. The increasingly aggressive Left, humiliated and irritated by their defeat in the struggle for White House, who was occupied by a newcomer to politics, may well stand under the American banner and say that they are more patriotic because they speak openly about the "full spectrum" Russian threat. The right is unlikely to resist this call to return to the "good old days" when the country was ruled by Ronald Reagan, and she agreed that her main enemy is the Kremlin. But as a result of such limited and frivolous machinations, America and Russia will be much less prosperous, and they will be much more dangerous, especially if they encourage the crazy designs of military strategists and weapons developers in Moscow and Washington.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

According to the US Nuclear Posture Review, Russia's Status-6 intercontinental autonomous nuclear torpedo is a real weapon that poses a real threat. At the same time, analysts assess the reality of this threat differently.

“This is definitely a danger to America that needs to be taken into account,” says former U.S. submarine officer Brian Clark, who is now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Provided that the torpedo is created, the main danger to Washington lies in its ability to bypass American system missile defense.

“The US military will begin to fear that Status 6 could fool the ballistic missile defense system,” Clark said. - However new torpedo will be comparable in terms of noise level with submarines or even more noticeable in this regard. Like a submarine, the torpedo is nuclear-powered from a small reactor and turbine, but there is not enough room for noise-reducing design solutions like "floating" decks and soundproofing. The U.S. Navy should monitor these unmanned submarines with anti-submarine defense systems, among which is SOSUS.

American sonars can easily detect a torpedo, but the United States does not effective way protection against weapons like "Status-6".

“The problem is finding a way to destroy the torpedo,” Clarke says. - A submarine may abandon its plans after a failed torpedo attack or as a result of sonar detection. But Status-6 has no crew and will continue to move towards the target until it is physically stopped. To date, America has no weapons or technology to stop an underwater drone."

"Status-6", despite all its innovativeness, is unlikely to become an effective weapon.

“In general, Status 6 is not considered an effective weapon,” Clark says. - bomber with nuclear bombs or cruise missiles controlled by a pilot who, in the event of an escalation or de-escalation of the conflict, may be ordered to abandon the operation or adjust his actions. In theory, a torpedo can also be withdrawn, but due to technical problems or communication problems, the activation or deactivation of the projectile may fail.”

"Status-6" is unlikely to be applied due to balancing on the brink nuclear war. “The torpedo is not as effective in terms of escalating the conflict, while bombers and ballistic missiles can signal to the enemy that the conflict is escalating, but without irreversible consequences,” says Clark. “Status-6 does not give the enemy any signals other than an explosion or appearing in enemy waters, which makes him vulnerable.”

If US intelligence reports on the existence of the weapons are correct, perhaps the greatest danger is that the Status-6 warhead could be lost or stolen.

“Equipment of Status-6 with a nuclear warhead could lead to the fact that this type of Russian nuclear weapon could be lost or stolen,” Clark said. – Even with tamper protection Russian government unlikely to lose control nuclear weapons especially given his focus on conflict escalation and self-control."

Former Soviet and Russian arms control negotiator Nikolai Sokov, who is now a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, called the concept an echo of the Soviet era.

“The concept is very old and dates back to a time when intercontinental ballistic missiles and sea-launched ballistic missiles were few and were considered unreliable and vulnerable,” Sokov told The National Interest. - Today it is difficult to understand why a slow projectile with a capacity of 100 megatons should be created. When a few years ago Russian television showed the presentation slide, I thought it was a ploy to alarm US intelligence. The authenticity of intelligence information about recent tests raises questions. Russia is actively working on the creation of small submarines. I willingly believe that the development of a carrier submarine with small submarines on board, capable of diving to considerable depths, is underway. But why equip them with warheads with a capacity of 100 megatons?

Geoffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, suggested that the slow torpedo would be used to attack coastal targets like naval bases. “It could explode in a port, destroy ships, or simply endanger coastal cities like New York,” Lewis said. - In my opinion, America can create a defense against such attacks, although I'm not sure if it will be effective. In my opinion, it will be easier than intercepting a missile."

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Pentagon sources have confirmed that Russia is testing a new type of weapon - a giant torpedo with a terrifyingly powerful thermonuclear warhead, known as "Status-6", writes Popular Mechanics. "This is very bad news," the US military said.

According to US intelligence, the tests took place on November 27. The torpedo was fired from a special-purpose submarine B-90 Sarov, details are unknown. The author of a material published in The Washington Free Beacon on this topic calls the Russian underwater vehicle revolutionary: a nuclear-powered torpedo is capable of moving at a speed of 90 knots at a depth of up to a kilometer. The range of the "Status" is 10 thousand kilometers, the size of the warhead is 6.5 meters. There, according to the Americans, a thermonuclear charge with a capacity of up to 100 megatons can be placed. Exploded off the coast of the United States, it will cause a giant tsunami that will wipe out coastal states along with naval bases, airfields and military factories.

According to experts, Status-6 is Russia's new asymmetric response to the US deployment of a global missile defense system. For the first time, the creation of a giant torpedo became a year ago, when a tablet with a description of a new weapon hit the lenses of television cameras at a government meeting on military issues. The Kremlin called the exposure of classified information an "accident". However, a number of political scientists consider it a deliberate "leak" and misinformation: according to the deadlines indicated in the tablet, it was planned to create the "Tsar Torpedo" in 2019.

Special-purpose submarines will be used as the carrier of the "Status" - in addition to the "Sarov" these are the "Belgorod" of the project 09852 "Antey" and the "Khabarovsk" of the project 09851, which are under modernization. the burden cannot be detected either from land or from a satellite.

The description of the system says that it is also designed to inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the enemy by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination on the coast, unsuitable for human life for a long time. This description fits the cobalt bomb - a thermonuclear weapon described by one of the creators of the American atomic weapon, Leo Szilard. The outer shell of such ammunition consists of cobalt-59, and its explosion guarantees the destruction of all life.

Tests of a cobalt bomb have never been carried out due to the unsuitability of the affected territories for development and the risk of destroying the entire biosphere of the Earth - according to calculations, this will require only 510 tons of cobalt. However, such a bomb and a giant torpedo as its delivery vehicle can be used as a deterrent weapon - together with a system on alert that guarantees a retaliatory strike with the full power of Russia's nuclear forces even if the command posts and personnel of the Strategic Missile Forces are destroyed.

On November 27, Russian sailors successfully tested the status-6 unmanned nuclear submarine capable of carrying a multi-megaton nuclear warhead. Bill Gertz, columnist for the Washington Free Beacon. The special-purpose submarine B-90 Sarov took part in the tests.

Bill Hertz calls Status-6 a revolutionary machine. Since the designers of the United States and other technologically advanced countries of the world have not yet approached this idea.

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis declined to comment on the test, saying: "We are closely following the development of Russian submarine technology, but we will not comment on it." At the same time, the military department has no doubts about the reality of the existence of the "Status", it has even been assigned a NATO index - "Canyon".

This weapon became known a year ago, when, during a televised meeting, Vladimir Putin had a "leak of top-secret information" that was undoubtedly planned. Thus, a signal was sent to American strategists that the new weapon was guaranteed to break through the massive defenses of the North American mainland and cause destruction on a scale that exceeds the attack by several known intercontinental ballistic missiles. That is, this is not just an asymmetric response to the perfidious construction of a European missile defense system, but a decision that repeatedly blocks both missile defense and NATO battalions in Poland and the Baltic states, and other potentially aggressive actions of Washington towards Russia.

The deciphering by Western experts of the slide, "leaked" on two central Russian TV channels, gave enough information to understand what the Status-6 uninhabited underwater vehicle (UUV) developed at the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Transport and Transportation is. The following words were read: “The purpose is to destroy important objects of the enemy’s economy in the coastal area and inflict guaranteed unacceptable damage to the country’s territory by creating zones of extensive radioactive contamination unsuitable for military, economic and other activities in these zones for a long time.”

I must say that a similar project existed in the early 60s. The T-15 torpedo was developed, which had a length of 24 meters and a mass of 40 tons. It was supposed to be equipped with a 100-megaton thermonuclear charge. But at that time there were no compact nuclear reactors for power plant, and battery-powered electric motors ensured the advance of the torpedo only 30 kilometers.

But half a century later, the problem with the reactor was solved. At the same time, significant progress has been made not only in nuclear power, but also in electronic components, and in control systems, and in materials, and in other constituent elements torpedo weapons. In addition, the strategy and tactics of the Navy have changed. Therefore, the Status-6 ROV is a completely new development that has only a 100-megaton charge capacity in common with the T-15.

At the same time, the new development is not a torpedo, but an underwater robot with elements artificial intelligence and capable of acting independently at a distance of several thousand kilometers from its carrier - a special-purpose submarine.

The technical parameters that circulate in the public domain are, of course, not based on the top secret documents of the Rubin Central Design Bureau of Transportation. They are the result of deciphering the slide of the Ministry of Defense, which hit the TV screens, the analysis of experts, both domestic and foreign, taking into account the scientific, technical and technological potential of the military-industrial complex of Russia.

First of all, it is necessary to say not about the quantitative, but about the qualitative side of the warhead. In order to realize the goals set for the "Status", the warhead must have a cobalt section. This should lead to maximum and long-term radioactive contamination of a vast territory. It is calculated that with a wind speed of 26 km / h, a radioactive cloud will poison a coastal rectangle measuring 1700 × 300 km.

The Rubin apparatus is capable of destroying naval bases, aircraft carrier strike groups, and ground air bases. All this has been experimentally verified by the Americans themselves. In 1946, the US Navy tested a 23 kiloton underwater explosion. As a result, the brand new aircraft carrier Independence, launched in 1942, was lost. After four years of unsuccessful decontamination attempts, it was scuttled. But the Status warhead contains several orders of magnitude more radioactive cobalt fission products.

Presumably, the speed of the UUV lies in the range from 100 km/h to 185 km/h. It is provided by jet propulsion systems powered by a reactor with a capacity of 8 MW. The reactor has a liquid metal coolant, thanks to which it is possible to increase the efficiency, as well as significantly reduce noise. What makes "Status-6" almost underwater invisible. Among other things, the reactor has an excellent cost-to-power ratio. It can cost about 12 million dollars - for production effective weapon containment, such costs are insignificant.

When analyzing the strength of the Status-6 hull, it was found that it has a working depth of 1000 meters. All of the above qualities indicate that UUVs are extremely difficult to detect even at maximum speed. For the SOSSUS sonar anti-submarine system that controls the US coast, new apparatus much less noticeable than the quietest submarine in the world "Varshavyanka". It is estimated that "Status-6" at a cruising speed of 55 km / h can be detected no further than at a distance of 2-3 km. In case of detection, he can easily leave any NATO torpedo for top speed. In addition, the UUV, having intelligence, is able to perform complex maneuvering.

Indeed, the chances of destroying "Status-6" even if it is discovered are minimal. The fastest US torpedo Mark 54 has a speed of 74 km / h, that is, according to minimum estimates, less than 26 km / h. The deepest European torpedo with the formidable name MU90 Hard Kill, launched in pursuit, at a maximum speed of 90 km / h, can travel no more than 10 km.

Assessing the possibilities of "Status-6", one should take into account the "intelligence" of this UUV. As a deterrent, he can come to the destination and lay low, waiting for a signal to undermine the warhead. The signal can be transmitted via an ultra-long-wave channel, since ultra-long waves penetrate the water column. In this case, we will have a deterrent weapon ready to work instantly. Without wasting time on the approach and "swim".

At the same time, it can be assumed that the tasks of this system also include the solution of other problems. Using such a powerful platform capable of long time act independently, including the adoption of tactical decisions, "Status-6" can also extract invaluable intelligence information.

And in conclusion, about the carriers of "Status-6". Diesel-electric submarine "Sarov" project 20120, built in a single copy, is designed to test the latest deep-sea technology. Therefore, she is not a carrier. However, two special-purpose boats, Belgorod and Khabarovsk, are being built at Sevmash in secrecy, which, judging by a number of indirect data, will serve Status-6. Presumably, they will be put into operation in this decade.