MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Sunday the Russian Navy would be armed with hypersonic nuclear strike weapons and underwater nuclear drones, which the defence ministry claimed were in their ultimate phase of screening.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin inspects warships right before the Navy Working day parade in Saint Petersburg, Russia July 26, 2020. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS
Putin, who states he does not want an arms race, has frequently spoken of a new era of Russian nuclear weapons that he says are unequalled and can hit pretty much anywhere in the entire world. Some Western experts have questioned how sophisticated they are.
The weapons, some of which have yet to be deployed, incorporate the Poseidon underwater nuclear drone, created to be carried by submarines, and the Tsirkon (Zircon) hypersonic cruise missile, which can be deployed on area ships.
The combination of speed, manoeuvrability and altitude of hypersonic missiles, capable of travelling at more than five occasions the pace of seem, tends to make them tricky to observe and intercept.
Talking in St Petersburg at an once-a-year naval parade that showcases Russia’s most effective ships, nuclear submarines and naval aviation, Putin explained the navy’s abilities were increasing and it would get 40 new vessels this calendar year.
He did not specify when it would acquire new hypersonic weapons, but proposed that day was drawing closer.
“The common deployment of highly developed digital systems that have no equals in the planet, including hypersonic strike devices and underwater drones, will give the fleet distinctive advantages and amplified overcome capabilities,” Putin explained.
In a individual assertion introduced by using Russian news organizations, the defence ministry claimed testing of the Belgorod, the first submarine able of carrying the Poseidon drones, was underway and tests of the weapons devices was nearing completion.
“Work is remaining successfully done to create modern day weapons units for the Navy,” it was cited as saying.
Putin past calendar year threatened to deploy hypersonic missiles on ships and submarines that could lurk outside U.S. territorial waters if the United States moved to deploy intermediate-array nuclear weapons in Europe.
Washington has not deployed such missiles in Europe, but Moscow is apprehensive it could possibly.
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